Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below. Meddling with Social Security is generally considered politically taboo. President Donald Trump recognized this during his 2024 election campaign.
"I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare… We'll have to do it elsewhere. But we're not going to do anything to hurt them," he said (1) at the time. Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one JPMorgan still sees gold hitting $5,000/oz by Q4 — and savvy investors are protecting their wealth with a tax-advantaged Gold IRA.
Learn more with a free guide from Priority Gold The tax breaks in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' expire after 2028 — and experts say most people won't act in time. What to do before the window closes Unfortunately, Trump's Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) is now poised to do exactly what he promised he wouldn't. In an indirect way, this signature piece of legislation actually creates a $169 billion shock impacting anyone who hopes to collect a benefit check in the future.
Here's what you need to know about these potential consequences for your retirement. The BBB included several temporary tax credits and deductions (2), such as the elimination of taxes on overtime and tips and a special $6,000 deduction for seniors over the age of 65. While it's safe to assume that these tax reductions are popular with the narrow cohort of people who qualify for them (and up to a point), they also more broadly reduce the government's revenue, which makes funding social programs like Social Security more difficult.
According to the Social Security Administration's Office of the Actuary's (OACT) (3) letter to Senator Rob Wyden, this reduction in revenue has a clear impact. "Over calendar years 2025 through 2034, the total net increase in OASDI program cost is estimated to be $168.6 billion," says the report. "The reserve depletion date for the OASI Trust Fund is accelerated from the first quarter of 2033 to the fourth quarter of 2032." In simple terms: Trump's signature policy has increased costs by $169 billion and accelerated the trust fund's depletion from early-2033 to late-2032.
Unlike the temporary and targeted tax cuts, this impacts all workers and retirees. Trust fund depletion could unleash a 24% benefit cut on average, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (4). This potential cut may even impact some of the seniors who benefit from the new BBB deductions.
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