Around 2032 or 2033, the Social Security "trust fund" runs out of bonds to sell. Then benefits decline an estimated 23% automatically. For decades, FICA taxes collected exceeded the amount paid to retirees. So the excess money was used to purchase US treasury debt. The US govt spent the money and gave Social Security an IOU for the FICA taxes collected. Those treasury bonds (the IOUs) added up to $3 trillion at their peak. A few years ago the amount of FICA taxes collected was no longer enough to cover benefits. So now Social Security has to cash in bonds to meet their payments to retirees. The "trust fund" pile of IOUs is down to about $2.5 trillion. Around 2032 or 2033, the $2.5 trillion in bonds will be depleted. At that point, under current law, the Social Security department of the govt will automatically cut benefits to retirees. It will be around 23% the first year. What will Congress do? Congress will likely pass emergency legislation telling Social Security to pay benefits out of general fund revenue. The US govt budget deficit will immediately increase by another $600 billion to $700 billion per year. We will likely have annual US govt budget deficits of $3 trillion per year or more. You probably don't own enough gold for what will happen to your dollar buying power.(Wall Street Mav)