Social Security's day of reckoning is nearly here

"The big picture: The Social Security retirement fund is set to be depleted in 2033, at which point recipients would see a steep cut to their monthly checks absent congressional action. Nobody in U.S. politics wants that to happen, but there are deep divides over how to address the imbalance - or, perhaps more accurately, elected officials would prefer not to talk about the hard trade-offs ahead."

"Threat level: U.S. Senate candidatesin next year's midterms could face the looming insolvency at the end of their terms - putting the issue on the ballot just 11 months from now. "This is a tinderbox issue," Gopi Shah Goda, director of the Retirement Security Project at the Brookings Institution, tells Axios. "It's hard to deal with because it's a long-term problem - but that time is coming. "It's going to be painful. There's no free lunch. Someone's going to lose out.""

"By the numbers: If the Social Security retirement fund is depleted in 2033, the program would be able to pay only 77% of scheduled benefits, per the most recent trustees' report. The average beneficiary receives $2,008 a month, which implies a drop to $1,546. That's a potentially devastating loss of income for those who depend on the program - and it happens automatically if Congress doesn't intervene."

The Social Security retirement fund faces projected depletion in 2033 that would reduce scheduled benefits to roughly 77%, cutting average monthly checks from $2,008 to about $1,546. Congress must enact changes to prevent an automatic, across-the-board reduction; without action the cut happens by law. Political leaders exhibit deep divides over how to close the funding gap and often avoid confronting the necessary trade-offs. The trust funds primarily hold Treasury securities and act as government IOUs, but legal depletion compels some corrective measure. The issue is driven by long-term demographic and fiscal forces and is politically time-sensitive ahead of midterms.

Read at Axios