Iceberg ahead for Social Security

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

According to a government report released this week, Congress has until 2033 to fix Social Security before retirees receive an automatic benefit cut of about 21%. This is a more optimistic estimate from a previous report that stated the Social Security Trust Fund would run dry sooner, but it still paints a grim picture for a program that millions of retirees rely on.

Today, NPR's Chief Economics Correspondent joins the show to explain what exactly lawmakers can do to fix Social Security and why proposed solutions might be easier said than done.

Related episodes:
What would it take to fix retirement? (Apple / Spotify)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:03.0	The clock is ticking for Social Security. I mean the clock has been ticking for
0:16.8	a while now but this week we got a new annual report from the Social Security
0:22.0	Trustees. Their updated numbers show that a runs short of cash and triggers and automatic cut in benefits for nearly 60 million Americans.
0:37.5	This is the indicator from Planet Money, I'm Wailen Wong.
0:40.4	Today on the show, NPR's Chief Economics Correspondent joins us to discuss how we got into this mess,
0:46.6	how we could get out of it, and what's stopping lawmakers from diffusing this ticking time bomb. That's after the break.
0:53.3	Support for this podcast and the following message come from Wise,
0:57.7	the app that makes managing your money in different currencies easy.
1:01.5	With Wise, you can send and spend money internationally at the
1:05.6	mid-market exchange rate, no guesswork and no hidden fees. Learn more about
1:10.4	how WISE could work for you at wise.com.
1:14.0	On this week's wild card, we talk with Isa Ray
1:17.5	about those moments where our lives could have gone another direction.
1:21.5	Definitely wasn't supposed to be with, at all, at all, but I still think about it.
1:25.7	I'm Rachel Martin.
1:26.7	Isa Ray tells us how to make peace with the path not take it.
1:30.3	That's on the Wild Card podcast from NPR, the game where cards control the conversation.
1:39.0	Support for NPR and the following message come from the Walton Family Foundation,
1:43.2	working to create access to opportunity for people and communities
1:46.8	by tackling tough social and environmental problems.
1:50.1	More information is at Walton Family Foundation.org.
	...

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