Currently, the Social Security Administration is running a budget surplus. For 2008, Social Security revenues totaled $805 billion and benefit payments and administrative costs were $625 billion, resulting in a surplus of $180 billion. Over the years, the system has run up an overall surplus totaling $2.4 trillion.
What has happened to this surplus? The SSA took in $180 billion more than it spent in 2008. However, the federal government spent this $180 billion on other programs. Since the funds were spent on something other than Social Security, the government declares that it loaned itself the $180 billion, calling such "lending" intragovernmental debt.
The Social Security scheme is unraveling. Soon, there will not be enough workers to pay benefits for retirees. The belief that there is a trust fund for Social Security is true only to the extent that all the monies collected have been spent and the fund balance is $0.
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