Social Security will NEVER GO BANKRUPT. Seriously. Erase that thought from your head.
Regardless of who controls Congress in the coming years, Congress will pass changes to the SS funding that will enhance the revenue stream (probably remove the cap on earnings subject to the tax). Other options are on the table, but won't have as much impact. NOTHING DONE BY CONGRESS will reduce payments to any retired person. AT WORST, the future cost-of-living adjustments may be less generous.
If you are "young" and are worried that SS will not be there for you, you can take comfort in the knowledge that it will always be there. However, it will not be enough to live a middle-class life...just like now. You will have to have some other pension or savings (or both) if you want to live a middle-class life.
The "problem" with SS is that it is unconstitutional, and because of that Congress had to cook up a "risky scheme" to fund it. It was not going to be funded by income taxes or other Federal revenues - which would have made it unconstitutional and killed it in the womb, so to speak.
So they cooked up a "Trust Fund" to be perpetually replenished by PAYROLL TAXES from working Americans. Some take the position that the trust fund is just an accounting gimmick, but remember, that's what kept it from being unconstitutional. If nothing is done about it, the trust fund will run dry shortly after 2030. If "we" decide to keep it, then Congress will have to enhance SS revenues, probably by eliminating the cap on earnings subject to the Payroll tax. But regardless, Congress will never let SS run dry. Old bastards like me always vote, and any congress-person voting to cut payments would be run out of Washington on a rail. A few Republicans have suggested that "we" kill the trust fund and just budget SS like everything else and forget about the depletion of this imaginary fund. Democrats, of course, take that suggestion and use it to try to frighten old people about their SS being cut.
Don't worry; be happy.
