Report: https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2026/II_A_highlights.html# https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2026/II_A_highlights.html# “Social Security’s long-term shortfall is

Report: https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2026/II_A_highlights.html# https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2026/II_A_highlights.html# “Social Security’s long-term shortfall is likely significantly worse than projected. In 2025, the Social Security Trustees estimated that the program faces a 75-year funding shortfall equal to $27 trillion in present-value terms. But those projections rely on unusually optimistic assumptions about future US fertility rates. The Trustees are likely understating Social Security’s insolvency problem by assuming Americans will start having far more children than current trends suggest.” [1] [1] https://debtdispatch.substack.com/p/low-and-falling-fertility-means-social https://debtdispatch.substack.com/p/low-and-falling-fertilit... Additional citations: https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Social-Security-Costs-Could-Rise-if-Fertility-Rates-Stay-Low-%E2%80%93-Center-for-Retirement-Research.pdf https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Social-Securit... https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/2026060249/another-dire-problem-for-social-security-trustees-may-be-calculating-the-birth-rate-wrong https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/2026060249/anot... (on top of ~$50T in other existing debt obligations: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48438840 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48438840)