People are reacting on fb after Trump said he wanted to delay payment of payroll taxes from September through December 2020. If elected, he said he would not require they pay those taxes and social security would be funded by The General Fund. Democrat friends are scared that as will be refunded and done away with. Please give me some info to fight this scare tactic with on their posts. Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Social Security benefits are paid from the Social Security trust fund, and the Social Security Trust Fund consists of the surplus of Social Security payroll taxes collected minus the benefits that have been paid out. There is currently a positive balance in the trust fund, but the fund is being depleted because the amount of benefits being paid is higher than the amount of taxes being collected.

If Social Security payroll taxes are suspended entirely and if that money is not restored to the trust fund by some means, then it's true that the trust fund would eventually run out of money needed to pay benefits. However, Social Security has been in existence for 85 years now and Congress has always made sure that the trust fund has remained solvent to the extent that full benefits can be paid as promised. I would fully expect them to continue to do that in the future.

Best, Jerry