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6h ago

Social Security Chief Says Raising Retirement Age Is on the Table

The administration’s review of options seeks to head off projected trust‑fund shortfalls that would trigger automatic benefit cuts within the next decade.

Stock image/file photo: A Social Security card with U.S. Dollars.
Frank Bisignano, commissioner of the US Social Security Administration, left, and US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025.
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Retirees make long lines waiting to be vaccinated against COVID-19 outside a vaccination center of the Social Security Institute in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, May 6, 2021. The elderly and their companions waited for hours to be vaccinated. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Overview

  • Commissioner Frank Bisignano said “everything’s being considered,” explicitly naming a higher retirement age and lifting the cap on taxable earnings among options.
  • SSA data put combined trust‑fund insolvency around early 2034, while an analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget points to 2032.
  • If Congress does not act, benefits would be cut automatically to match payroll tax income, with estimated reductions of roughly 21% to 24%.
  • Trustees estimate closing the 75‑year gap would require raising the payroll tax rate from 12.4% to about 16.05%, and the CBO has found an FRA of 70 would cover roughly half the shortfall.
  • House Democrat John B. Larson criticized raising the retirement age as a benefit cut, while Bisignano said any changes will require congressional action and time.