Social Security Benefit Cuts Could Hit Americans by 2032

Social Security benefits could be cut by 22% in 2032 unless Congress steps in with legislation to keep the program fully funded.

The Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is projected to pay full scheduled benefits until then. After that, it would only have enough money to pay 78% of scheduled benefits for retirees and survivors. 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Social Security into law in August 1935 as part of his New Deal package to respond to the fallout of the Great Depression. Social Security was designed to provide financial support for older Americans when they are no longer working age and it has since expanded to cover disabled workers, survivors, and their families.

The program is still extremely popular with Americans to this day. 79% of U.S. adults said Social Security benefits shouldn’t be reduced in any way in a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. It’s estimated that Social Security keeps 22 million Americans above the poverty line.

It also plays a key role in helping families make ends meet, and the program is designed to keep up with cost-of-living increases. A 2025 Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies survey found that 53% of retirees say Social Security checks will be their primary source of income. 

Any potential reductions in future benefit checks could have significant impacts for people already receiving Social Security, and the potential lack of funding raises questions for workers who have paid into the system throughout their working lives.

Free the Facts, an educational program from Across the Aisle, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization writes, “a single person who made the average wage (about $66,100 in 2023 dollars) and retired in 2020 would have paid about $367,000 into Social Security and would then receive about $383,000 in lifetime benefits.”

A Group of Senators Urges Action

Members of Congress are likely hearing from constituents about the potential drop in Social Security benefits.

A bipartisan group of senators, which included Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Thom Tillis (R-NC), issued a recent statement urging Congress to act before the Social Security trust fund faces insolvency in 2032.

“It’s clear now that Congress shouldn’t delay any longer. Several of us have been coming together to talk about how we can strengthen Social Security for current and future generations of retirees,” the Senators said in a statement.

“Congress has no shortage of ideas, we just need to actually debate them and vote.” — Sens. Dick Durbin, Bill Cassidy, Tim Kaine & Thom Tillis

“We say to our colleagues: join us in doing what we were elected to do — legislate on hard issues and protect this lifeline program for our kids and grandkids. Congress has no shortage of ideas, we just need to actually debate them and vote.”

Cassidy is calling for a new investment in Social Security. He has said the federal government should invest $1.5 trillion in an investment fund over five years. This fund would be separate from the OASI trust fund, The Hill reports.

Millions of Recipients Will Get New Benefit Cards Soon

In other Social Security news, some recipients will soon see a change in how they access their benefits.

Most Americans who receive Social Security benefits are paid by direct deposit into a bank account. But about 3.6 million Americans are paid with Direct Express cards, designed for people who do not have traditional bank accounts to access benefits. This program is being switched over from Comerica Bank to a new banking partner, Fifth Third Bank.

This transition started in June. New Social Security recipients will receive Fifth Third cards. Current cardholders are free to use cards from Comerica until replacement cards arrive in the mail. Social Security recipients will be sent a letter before the new Fifth Third card arrives, which will be later in 2026 or in early 2027.

In addition, Social Security recipients who receive benefits through cards will need to download a new Direct Express mobile app to activate replacement cards. 

These prepaid cards can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted.