On August 14, 2025, the United States marked the 90th anniversary of Social Security, a program that has long been the backbone of retirement security for millions of Americans. But even as officials commemorated President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signature achievement, the mood was far from celebratory. With nearly 69 million Americans relying on Social Security each month, the program now faces a future clouded by looming insolvency, political battles, and the changing realities of retirement in America.
At the Franklin Avenue Library in Des Moines, Iowa, former Social Security commissioner Martin O’Malley addressed a crowd gathered for Fairness for Iowa’s “Protect Our Checks” event. The meeting, part of a national campaign to defend Social Security, came just one day after the program’s milestone birthday. O’Malley didn’t mince words about the threats facing Social Security, telling attendees that both the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE service have put the program at risk. Yet, he insisted, “the problems facing the program can be easily solved by lawmakers.”
O’Malley pointed to a June 2025 report from the Trustees of Social Security and Medicare, which forecast that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund could be depleted by 2033. That’s a sobering prospect: after that date, the program would only be able to pay about 81% of promised benefits, according to the Associated Press. The depletion date was recently moved up from 2035, with the change attributed in part to new legislation and shifting demographics.
Despite these warnings, O’Malley remains optimistic that solutions are within reach. He advocates for increasing the payroll tax cap on high earners and rolling back changes enacted through the Republican budget reconciliation bill, arguing these steps would shore up Social Security’s finances. “There’s no magic ingredient to it, but the party needs to be full-throated in its defense of Social Security,” O’Malley said at the Iowa event. “If we can’t fight and be willing to die on this hill … we shouldn’t call ourselves Democrats anymore.”
His words echoed the urgency felt by many in the room. In Iowa alone, 687,630 people depend on Social Security benefits. For Zach Mecham, an entrepreneur and disability rights activist, the program’s impact is deeply personal. “When I think about all of the things that I’ve been able to do with my life, and I think about young Iowans with disabilities … I’m worried for their future,” Mecham shared. “I’m worried that they won’t have the same supports that I get — not the Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the things that I relied on in order to get where I’m at.”
The anxieties voiced in Iowa are mirrored nationwide. According to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, a growing number of older Americans—especially Democrats—support Social Security but doubt it will be there for them when they retire. “So much of what we hear is that it’s running out of money,” said Becky Boober, a 70-year-old retiree from Maine. She relies on Social Security to keep her finances afloat and believes the program should be expanded, not cut.
The political debate over Social Security’s future has grown more intense in recent years. At an Oval Office event on August 14, President Donald Trump declared, “we’re strengthening it,” but critics argue that the administration has done little to offer a long-term fix. Since Trump took office, the Social Security Administration’s staffing has been slashed, and lawsuits have erupted over the sharing of sensitive information. Administration officials, including Trump himself, have made false claims about millions of dead people receiving benefits, while former adviser Elon Musk once called the program a potential “Ponzi scheme.”
Legislative changes have added to the uncertainty. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in January 2025, repealed the Windfall Elimination and Government Pension Offset provisions, boosting benefits for former public workers. While popular with many, this move also contributed to the earlier projected depletion of Social Security’s reserves, according to the program’s annual report.
Meanwhile, Trump’s signature domestic policy bill—dubbed the “big beautiful bill”—passed Congress in July 2025. It extends his earlier tax cuts, adds new deductions, and boosts spending on immigration enforcement and the military. But the Congressional Budget Office projects the law will increase federal deficits by $3.3 trillion over the next decade and, according to Brendan Duke at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, accelerate Social Security’s insolvency. Trump has touted a temporary tax deduction for people 65 and over, but not all Social Security beneficiaries will benefit—especially lower-income retirees who don’t pay taxes on their benefits.
The question of privatizing Social Security has also resurfaced. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent floated the idea of “Trump accounts”—tax-deferred investment accounts—as a possible backdoor to privatization, though the Treasury later walked back those comments. The public has long resisted privatization, recalling the failed push under President George W. Bush in 2005. Still, some conservative economists, like Glenn Hubbard, support limiting benefits for wealthy retirees or shrinking the program to maintain its solvency. “We will have to make a choice,” Hubbard told the Associated Press. “If you want Social Security benefits to look like they are today, we’re going to have to raise everyone’s taxes a lot.”
On the other side, advocacy groups like Social Security Works warn that privatizing administration could threaten the program’s integrity, especially after agency workforce cuts. Nancy Altman, the group’s president, is particularly concerned about the Trump administration’s intentions.
Beyond the political battles, the realities of retirement are shifting. Americans are living longer and working later. According to federal data, more than one in five workers are now 55 or older, and the number of people working past age 65 has soared in the past two decades. While some seniors choose to work for a sense of purpose or to stay active, many do so out of financial necessity. A 2024 AARP survey found that two in three adults over 50 lack enough savings to feel secure in retirement. Half of older adults living alone—and one in five older couples—don’t have the resources to cover basic needs, according to a 2022 University of Massachusetts Boston study.
Experts suggest several reforms to help Americans prepare for retirement, including automatic enrollment in individual retirement accounts, more flexible work options, and employer-sponsored skills training. Yet, with Social Security’s future uncertain and the cost of living rising, many older Americans are left in limbo, unsure whether the safety net will hold.
As America approaches Social Security’s centennial, the choices made by today’s lawmakers will shape the lives of millions for decades to come. Whether the program can be preserved, strengthened, or even expanded remains an open—and urgent—question.