SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano said ‘everything’s being considered’ as trust funds face depletion in 2034, prompting debate over benefit cuts and tax hikes.
A range of options to shore up finances for Social Security are being considered, including the possibility of raising the retirement age, as the program edges closer to insolvency.
“I think everything’s being considered, will be considered,” Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano said on Sept. 18 on Fox Business’s “Mornings with Maria,” when asked directly whether raising the retirement age was on the table.
“Remember, most people told you and me Social Security wasn’t going to be around. And so the generations that are coming in will probably have a different set of rules than we had.”
Looming Shortfall
The comments come amid long-running concerns about the long-term health of the program.
Social Security’s two main trust funds—the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) funds—are projected to run out of money on a combined basis in early 2034, according to an Aug. 5 letter from the program’s chief actuary. That’s about six months earlier than previously forecast.
If trust funds are depleted in 2034, incoming payroll taxes would cover about 80 percent of scheduled benefits—declining to 72 percent by 2099—meaning automatic across-the-board cuts for tens of millions of Americans absent congressional action.
The actuary attributed the earlier depletion date partly to provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which extended tax cuts from Trump’s first term and expanded deductions for older Americans. Those changes are expected to reduce revenue from taxing Social Security benefits and add roughly $168.6 billion in costs through 2034.
Viewed separately, the OASI fund that pays retirement and survivor benefits is now projected to be exhausted by late 2032, while the DI fund remains solvent for the full 75-year forecast.
Options on the Table
Bisignano said policymakers have about eight years to decide on solutions, adding that the responsibility ultimately lies with Congress and the program’s trustees. Besides raising the retirement age, he said, there has also been discussion of lifting the cap on taxable earnings.
“That number will continue to increase also, of where the max is, and that’s another thing that people put in the equation,” he said, referring to the $176,100 wage cap in 2025. Wages above that level are currently exempt from the 6.2 percent payroll tax.
