There are millions of older Americans today who collect a monthly benefit from Social Security. And for many people, those benefits are a critical source of income — particularly folks who sorely lack retirement savings.

Meanwhile, ever since Donald Trump took office earlier this year, there’s been speculation about what he’ll do to Social Security. But the reality of that situation may be less dire than what some people might expect.

Trump doesn’t plan to cut Social Security

President Trump has been accused of having it in for Social Security. In spite of that, he’s promised to keep the program intact for older Americans.

During his campaign, Trump said, “I will not cut one cent from Social Security or Medicare…I kept my promise for four years and I will keep it again.”

Trump even went on to say that not only he will not make cuts to Social Security, but he also doesn’t want recipients to continue having to pay taxes on their benefits. So it’s clear that he’s not looking to strip the program of funding anytime soon.

Trump has a Social Security problem on his hands

President Trump may not want to cut Social Security. But the reality is that the program was facing the possibility of cuts before he took office. And those cuts are still on the table.

The reason Social Security is at risk of making cuts has to do with an incoming shortage of payroll tax revenue. As baby boomers retire in droves, Social Security will be stripped of some of the critical revenue it needs to keep up with benefits at their current level.

Thankfully, Social Security has trust funds it can tap for a period of time to avoid a near-term reduction in benefits. But once those trust funds run dry, benefit cuts could happen. And recent projections put the trust funds’ depletion date as 2035.

Furthermore, if President Trump’s plan to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits moves forward, it could push up the timeline for the program’s trust funds depletion. So while Trump may not intentionally cut Social Security, his actions could inadvertently lead to benefit cuts.

All told, lawmakers need to direct their attention to Social Security’s looming financial shortfall very soon. They can’t keep putting off decision-making in the context of preventing cuts.

It will be interesting, too, to see if President Trump backs away from his pledge to eliminate taxes on benefits. And seniors can only hope that he upholds his promise to not cut Social Security at all.

To that end, though, Social Security recipients should have a plan in case benefit cuts become inevitable. That plan could entail going back to work on a part-time (or even, if necessary, a full-time) basis. Or, it could involve drastically reducing living expenses.

If Social Security is cut, seniors without savings or additional income streams are the ones who stand to get hurt the most. So it’s people in that boat who need to start thinking seriously about what they’ll do if their monthly benefits get slashed.

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