Pa. retirees’ average Social Security payments could drop $519 a month in 2032, report says
The report said about one in five Pennsylvanians, or 2.6 million people in all, would be impacted.
By TOM FONTAINE
TribLive
Pennsylvanians receiving Social Security retirement benefits could see their monthly payments go down by an average of $519 if the trust fund that helps the government make payments dries up, according to a report released Wednesday.
“The Social Security Trustees now project that the retirement trust fund will be exhausted in 2032, less than seven years from today,” the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget wrote in its report, “No State Spared: Mapping the Impact of Social Security’s Insolvency.”
For the past 16 years, the report said, the cost of Social Security obligations has exceeded the amount of money the program has brought in, mostly from payroll taxes. The government has used trust fund reserves to make up the difference.
If the reserves are depleted, the government would be forced to slash benefits payments to bring spending in line with incoming revenue. That would result in a 24% benefit cut, the report said.
In Pennsylvania, the average monthly benefit cut would be $519, the 13th-largest reduction in the country, the report said.
The report said about one in five Pennsylvanians, or 2.6 million people in all, would be impacted.
“Restoring solvency to Social Security will require navigating difficult tradeoffs,” the committee wrote in its report.
“Policymakers have many options to restore solvency while also strengthening retirement security, promoting economic growth and better targeting taxes and benefits. However, they must act quickly to prevent deep, abrupt benefit cuts that would affect all beneficiaries, regardless of age or need,” the report added.
