Cash-flow deficits since 2010 require Treasury borrowing: Social Security has paid out more in benefits than it collects in taxes since 2010, forcing the government to borrow from the public to cover the gap — by 2032 trust fund exhaustion, total borrowing will reach $4 trillion, with a 75-year unfunded obligation of $28 trillion.

Automatic 25% benefit cuts would hit lower-wealth retirees hardest: Once the trust fund is exhausted around 2032, benefits would be cut automatically by about 25% across the board — but "lower-wealth retirees would be hit the hardest" since Social Security represents a much larger share of their total wealth than for higher-income households.

Can't grow or inflate away the problem: Even doubling real wage growth wouldn't close projected deficits because initial benefits are wage-indexed — "higher wages raise revenues, but they also raise future benefit obligations, which offset some of those revenue gains," and stagflation scenario could add $3 trillion more debt on top of baseline projections.

SSA limiting back pay to 6 months instead of full retroactivity to January 2024: The Social Security Fairness Act (enacted January 2025) repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset that reduced benefits for public employees with pensions — while the law applies to "all payments after and including January 2024," SSA is capping retroactive benefits at just 6 months for some first-time applicants.

Bipartisan senators say SSA is violating the law: Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy, Texas Republican John Cornyn, Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman, and Maine Republican Susan Collins wrote to SSA's acting commissioner demanding full back pay — "Congress did not distinguish between new and current beneficiaries in setting the Act's effective date," so SSA should "provide full retroactivity to January 2024 to all applicants regardless of application date."

If you're affected, contact your local Social Security office: Public employees who earned pensions from jobs that didn't pay into Social Security and are applying for benefits for the first time since the law passed may be missing thousands in back pay — reach out to your local SSA office to obtain the withheld funds, though no official changes to the policy have been made yet.

$184,500 taxable wage base means cap on Social Security taxes: The Social Security Administration's 2026 limit means earnings above $184,500 are not subject to Social Security taxes — employees pay 6.2% and employers pay matching 6.2% (total 12.4%), while self-employed workers pay the full 12.4% but can deduct half on income taxes.

Medicare has no cap, applies to all earnings: Unlike Social Security, Medicare taxes (1.45% each for employee and employer, or 2.9% for self-employed) apply to all earnings with no income limit — high earners also pay an additional 0.9% Medicare surcharge.

Debate over eliminating the cap to fix Social Security solvency: Former SSA deputy commissioner Jason Fichtner says "If we had just raised the taxable maximum, got rid of the cap, just that one policy … that would have put us on 75-year solvency 15 years ago" — but critics say it could hurt upper middle class, not just the rich, since "high-earners will receive a larger initial Social Security benefit than low-earners, their return as a share of the lifetime Social Security taxes will be lower."