In the year 2011:

According to the Washington Post:

"the [budget] crunch actually begins much sooner than that -- in 2011, when Social Security's cash flow turns negative, because of the first wave of baby-boom retirements."

As Dean Baker, and people in the comments section, point out, that 2011 figure it totally bogus:

2011? Hmmm - that's a number Don Luskin once used. It's when the Soc. Sec. surplus peaks. Yes - when the 2nd derivative of the amount in the Soc. Sec. Trust Fund hits zero, then we're bankrupt! What a hoot!

In non-calculus terms:

Ths Social Security surplus will continue up until 2017*. The amount of that surplus varies from year-to-year, with the peak annual-surplus occuring in 2011. From 2012 to 2017, there will still be more SS tax money coming in than being spent.

* 2017 is the break-even point of SS taxes vs. SS outlays, but there is additional income from interest on the bonds, which means that input = output takes place a couple of years later.


posted by Quiddity at 9/29/2008 08:31:00 AM