Social Security cannot afford to pay all of the benefits it has promised. Beginning in 2017, it will run cash deficits that get bigger every year.
Many critics of personal accounts say that we have years or even decades to fix Social Security. However, every year we wait is a year the problem gets much harder to solve. If personal accounts had been put in place in 1999, the higher rates of return that younger workers would enjoy would only need to help fix a $2.9 trillion hole in the program. By waiting until now, the problem has gotten 38% worse—there is now a $4 trillion hole. The longer we wait, the worse deal exists for younger workers, and that much more pressure mounts to raise taxes or cut benefits.
Social Security has a problem, and we need to fix it. Personal accounts are the solution.
The Longer Personal Accounts Wait, the Worse the Problem Gets
Source: Social Security Administration Office of the Chief Actuary