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President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act in the White House Cabinet Room, August 14, 1935
🏛️ Title II, Social Security Act of 1935💳 Funded by a Dedicated Payroll Tax

Social Security

Since 1935, Social Security has paid monthly benefits to retired, disabled, and surviving Americans, funded almost entirely by a dedicated payroll tax. Here's how it was built, how it grew, and how close it actually is to running short.

Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power to tax and spend for the general welfare, the constitutional basis it used to create Social Security in 1935 and the same power it alone holds to fix the program's financing today.

Payroll Taxes Collected - Live

$0

Since Jan 1, 2026 - based on CY2025's $1.45T total, SSA 2026 Trustees Report

Benefits Paid Out - Live

$0

Since Jan 1, 2026 - based on CY2025's $1.61T total, SSA 2026 Trustees Report

OASI Trust Fund Insolvency Countdown

Projected depletion: Q4 2032
0y 0d 00:00:00

Until the OASI Trust Fund's reserves are projected to be exhausted, per the SSA Board of Trustees' 2026 report

What happens at depletion? Checks don't stop. Incoming payroll tax revenue would still cover an estimated 78% of scheduled retirement and survivor benefits, an automatic across-the-board cut unless Congress changes the law before then. The combined OASI and DI trust funds, considered together, aren't projected to deplete until 2034, when they'd still cover about 83% of benefits. Combining the two funds would require a change in the law, so 2032 is the earlier, action-forcing date under current law.
$2.56T
Combined Reserves (2025)
70 million
Beneficiaries (2025)
Q4 2032
OASI Depletion
2034
Combined Depletion

A Depression, a Committee, and a Bill That Changed Retirement

The Great Depression exposed a country with no organized safety net for old age. In under a year and a half, Roosevelt's Committee on Economic Security turned that crisis into the Social Security Act, a law that survived a Supreme Court challenge and started paying its very first check within five years.

Have a Concern? Who to Contact

Only Congress can change how Social Security is funded or paid out. Here's how to reach the Social Security Administration directly, the two congressional committees with jurisdiction over the program, and your own elected representatives.

Social Security Administration

Questions about your own benefits, an application, or a payment

  • 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778)
  • Mon-Fri, 8am-7pm local time
  • Mail: Office of Public Inquiries and Communications Support, 1100 West High Rise, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235
ssa.gov/agency/contact

House Ways & Means Committee

The House committee with jurisdiction over Social Security law

  • (202) 225-3625
  • 1139 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
waysandmeans.house.gov

Senate Finance Committee

The Senate committee with jurisdiction over Social Security law

  • (202) 224-4515
  • 219 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
finance.senate.gov

Your U.S. Representative

Only Congress can change how Social Security is funded

  • Find and message your own House member directly
house.gov, find your rep

Your U.S. Senators

Every state has two, regardless of party

  • Find contact info for both of your senators
senate.gov, contact senators

Most congressional offices take messages through their official website's contact form rather than a public email inbox, which is why the links above go to official House and Senate directories rather than an email address.

Sources & Further Reading

This page draws on the Social Security Administration's own published history and the SSA Office of the Chief Actuary's 2026 OASDI Trustees Report, the National Archives' milestone documents on the 1935 Social Security Act, and nonpartisan fiscal analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the Congressional Research Service, and the Bipartisan Policy Center. The 1935 signing photograph is a public domain U.S. government work from the Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons; the 1965 and 1983 signing photographs are public domain U.S. government works from the Truman and Reagan Presidential Libraries, part of the National Archives.

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