In 1935 FDR proposed the Social Security retirement program and his staff projected that total expenditures for the program would reach $1.3 billion by 1980 (i.e. 45 years into the future). Actual Social Security outlays in 1980 were $149 billion which is more than one hundred times the original estimate. Social Security outlays for fiscal year 2019 were $988 billion, which is 24% of total national expenditures. In August 2019, the CBO projected that Social Security outlays for 2029 will be $1.82 trillion.
We don’t know what the solution is for such a massive liability, but we have the option to reduce or exclude Social Security income when conducting long-term planning for younger clients.