Social Security needs more money. The question is, who will pay it?

Social Security is the nation’s largest social insurance program and provides approximately 75 million Americans every month.

But the program faces an imminent funding gap.

According to estimates, Social Security’s retirement benefit trust fund could run out in 2032, leading to cuts in overall benefits. Social Security Administration And Congressional Budget Office.

Social Security has been on the brink of funding cuts before. When the last major reforms to the program were enacted in 1983, Social Security only months away from not being able to pay all social benefits.

At the time, lawmakers voted on bipartisan legislation that included taxes on welfare income and gradually increasing the retirement age to restore the program’s solvency.

With the program facing trust fund depletion deadlines, Washington leaders will need to regroup to shore up its financing — or risk imminent benefit cuts if the program can’t pay out benefits as promised.

During the Senate budget committee March 25 hearing Focusing on the program’s “path forward,” some leaders said Congress is up to the task.

“We can do this,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Dr., said of addressing the program’s shortcomings. “It’s actually not that hard or complicated. And the sooner we do it, the better it will be for everyone.”

Emerson Sprick, director of retirement and labor policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said changes to the program must have bipartisan support because new Social Security laws must pass a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.

Additionally, Sprick said the 2026 senator class will be the first federally elected group to have to face the program’s looming expirations in their six-year terms.

“Members of Congress and their staff are realizing that this is something that needs to be done,” Sprick said.

That starts with discussions between members on both sides of the aisle who can develop policy proposals, he said.

But when it comes to making this reform a reality, Washington leaders still face a big question: How should it be paid for?

Here are some of the ideas lawmakers and experts are talking about.

Alternatively, legislators may choose a third option. An offer from Cassidy: Establishing a diversified investment fund to help support the financing of the program. The senator’s proposal has not yet been formally introduced as a bill.

The Louisiana senator said at the hearing that under Cassidy’s plan, the government would borrow $1.5 trillion, which would then be invested similar to a 401(k). The fund would be separate from Social Security’s existing trust funds and would be held in trust for 75 years, he said. The balance will cover any borrowing needed to help pay for planned benefits, Cassidy said at the hearing.

According to Cassidy, the plan would include “strict legal guardrails” to protect the funds, including independent management focused on maximizing returns while preventing political interference. This will include annual audits and full transparency, he said.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently wrote in his annual letter to shareholders that Social Security funding should be allowed to grow with the economy. He wrote that the money could be invested more aggressively in other long-term retirement plans to generate better returns, rather than the conservative Treasuries in which Social Security funds currently invest.

But some experts criticized Cassidy’s proposal for the increased risk it would entail, especially given that the benefits must be guaranteed. Moreover, any gains would be limited to the cost of borrowing.

During the hearing, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said he supported the proposal as something that would help resolve the solvency crisis.

Kaine said the amount borrowed could be adjusted in coordination with other proposals to help address the solvency gap. He said the benefits paid would not be determined by the fund’s returns. According to both Cassidy and Kaine, the strategy will be based on other examples, most notably the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust, which was founded in 2001 to invest in railroad retirement assets.

At the Senate budget committee meeting, Whitehouse put forward another proposal calling for individuals with incomes above $400,000 to pay more for Social Security.

Social Security payroll taxes are capped at $184,500 in wages for 2026. Once this threshold is reached, high earners no longer pay into the program for that year. Million dollar annual wages and salaries As of March 9, Social Security stopped paying payments.

Whitehouse’s bill Medicare and Social Security Fair Share ActWhitehouse said at the hearing that he proposed a $400,000 threshold for Social Security that also applies to investment income. The plan would also close a loophole that allowed some wealthy direct business owners to avoid paying Medicare taxes.

“The only way to increase solvency without cutting benefits or going into debt, which can be very dangerous, is to earn more income,” Whitehouse said at the hearing.

white house We resubmitted the bill in 2025 with Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania. The proposal would extend the solvency of both Social Security and Medicare by at least 75 years, according to analyzes by the agency’s actuaries.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Repealing the payroll tax cap has been a popular proposal among Democrats, with Trump and others proposing that Social Security payroll taxes be applied to all income. over $250,000. Time will tell whether Republicans will approve these tax increases.

Instead of increasing Social Security payroll taxes for high-income earners, lawmakers may choose to limit the benefits they receive.

During a Senate budget committee hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Social Security survivor benefits were an important part of his family’s life because his parents passed away within about 15 months of each other.

“There was a time in my life when a Social Security check was really important,” Graham said.

“There’s a time in my life now where I could probably do with less, and if that’s what it takes to save Social Security, count me in,” Graham said.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget recently made a recommendation: Proposal to cap Social Security benefits for high earners with consistently maximum taxable earnings. The cap will be $100,000 for married couples and $50,000 for individuals.

In a separate Senate Committee on Aging hearing On March 25, Warren floated the idea of ​​raising the retirement age, which some Trump administration officials have also suggested.

At the hearing, Dan Adcock, director of government relations and policy for the National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare, said raising the retirement age would mean not receiving an extra year of benefits.

“It doesn’t matter whether you claim benefits at 62 or 70 or how long you’ve lived, it’s a benefit cut depending on how you slice it,” Adcock said.

He said such a change could be particularly harmful to those who need to retire early.

Advocates of raising the retirement age say Americans generally have longer life expectancies and such a policy is necessary. applicable in a way that protects low-income individuals.

AARP’s members, primarily those 50 and older, routinely say they want Social Security to be preserved and strengthened, according to Jenn Jones, vice president of financial security and livable communities for the nonprofit that represents older Americans.

To do that, Jones said, Congress needs to get serious about talking about solvency and putting ideas on the table. He said the Senate hearing allowed for consideration of many approaches.

“This is what the process is supposed to look like,” Jones said. “This is an open discussion.”

But because Social Security reform will likely involve a range of ideas, it’s impossible to confirm any one approach at this stage, Jones said.

“We need to be able to really see and evaluate the entire package to understand what it means for millions of people,” Jones said, not just for current beneficiaries but also for their children and grandchildren.