Head of Social Security says the program will be around for another 90 years

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The commissioner of the Social Security Administration says that the program will last for another 90 years.

​Concerns over the longevity of some Social Security programs were raised earlier this year amid an anticipated funding shortfall, with President Trump having suggested that Social Security trust funds should be invested into the stock market.

​However, Frank Bisignano, the SSA commissioner, says that the program will continue.

​“This is a long journey. It’s 90 years old. It’ll be around for another 90 years,” he said on CNBC’s Squawk Box. “The president has promised ‘protect and preserve’ and that’s what we’re doing.”

Asked whether people living longer lives due to advances in healthcare should result in a rise in the retirement age, Bisignano responded: “There will always be questions, but so far we’ve done a great job for America on it.”

​Bisignano made the remarks ahead of the unveiling of the SSA’s cost-of-living adjustment on Wednesday. The annual COLA is designed to protect the purchasing power of Social Security checks against inflation.

​The 2027 COLA is expected to be 3.5 percent, according to the Senior Citizens League. That would increase an average monthly Social Security check from $1,941.76 to $2,009.72, according to data released in August by the SSA.

​The CPI measured annual inflation as 3.4 percent in August, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics expected to say that year-on-year inflation was at 3.6 percent in September, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

​The Social Security Act was signed into law all the way back in August 1935, under then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

​“For 90 years, Social Security has stood as a promise kept, ensuring that older Americans, people with disabilities, and families facing loss have the support they need,” Bisignano said in a statement last year. “As we honor this legacy, we are also building a future where service is faster, smarter, and more accessible than ever before.”

​Just last week, though, Trump said that he believed in a reimagining of the Social Security funding structure, telling reporters that the Social Security trust funds should be invested into the stock market.

​“I wanted to ride with Social Security being fully invested in the stock market in the first month of my first year,” he told reporters. “Had we done that, Social Security right now would be the richest entity anywhere in the world.”

​Wider concerns over funding were raised by the SSA in a message to the public early this year, with the administration saying that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund would only be able to cover all scheduled benefits until the fourth quarter of 2032. After that, the fund’s reserves will only be able to cover 78 percent of the scheduled benefits.

​If combined with the Disability Insurance Trust Fund – which can be funded until at least 2100 – the resultant OASDI fund would be able to pay 100 percent of benefits until the third quarter of 2034, before dropping to 83 percent of scheduled benefits.

​The SSA says that lowered fertility rates, lower immigration and policies contained in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act mean that the OASI and DI Trust Funds will have lower revenue.

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