Roughly 22% of US tax dollars go to Social Security.

The SSA is an independent executive branch agency that is primarily responsible for administering Social Security benefits. In fiscal year 2024, The SSA, ranking second among federal agencies in terms of total spending, behind only the Department of Health and Human Services.

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Most US workers have 6.2% of their gross paycheck taken out for Social Security. The government requires employers to match that 6.2% as well, for a total of 12.4%. This video dives into the specifics of how Social Security functions from a financial perspective.

In a recent Pew Research Center survey of US adults, 79% said Social Security benefits shouldn’t be reduced in any way. This view is broadly shared across ages, races, political affiliations, and income brackets.

About 50 percent of federal revenue comes from individual income taxes, 7 percent from corporate income taxes, and another 36 percent from payroll taxes that fund social insurance programs. See breakdown in charts here.

Unless Congress acts before the Social Security trust fund becomes depleted in 2034, its current revenues would cover 81% of Social Security benefits. However, that share would decline to 72% by 2099.

One is called the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund, and the other is called the Disability Insurance trust fund. Combined, these two trust funds were valued at roughly $2.7T as of the end of 2024.

One is called the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund, and the other is called the Disability Insurance trust fund. Combined, these two trust funds were valued at roughly $2.7T as of the end of 2024.

Social Security operates through a trust fund built from payroll taxes. When costs outpace revenue, as they have since 2021, the program redeems Treasury bonds to cover the gap. To repay these bonds, the government often borrows more money, indirectly adding to the national debt and impacting fiscal policy.

The US government historically makes nearly half of its total revenue last year from individual income taxes. But the US makes also makes money from a variety of other sources, including Medicare taxes and corporate income taxes. However, the federal government has run a deficit since 2001—reaching a peak of $3.13T in 2020.

The Social Security Administration is responsible for more than just retirement benefits. Outside of the more well-known use case of retirement benefits, the SSA is also responsible for disability, family, and survivor benefits, supplemental security income, and more.

That’s because while Social Security benefits increase with wages and inflation, the income limits for taxing those benefits stay the same and don’t adjust over time.

A worker who has earned at or above the Social Security taxable maximum for at least 35 years and delays claiming until 70 can receive up to $5,181 in monthly benefits. Delaying claiming Social Security until 70 (rather than 62, the earliest age one can receive benefits) results in a higher monthly benefit.

Local governments collect about $886B each year to support education, infrastructure, and public health. Roughly three-quarters of this funding comes from property taxes, with the rest sourced from sales, excise, and income taxes.

Specifically, some assert that diverting funds into self-directed retirement accounts should replace Social Security taxes and benefits to some extent in a privatized retirement savings system. This article details the pros and cons of privatizing Social Security.

Many of the Social Security functions we know today are the result of multiple amendments to the Social Security Act that have been passed in the years since the act’s initial creation in 1935. As Social Security as we know it today was being conceptualized, Democrats opted to make it an insurance program rather than a welfare one to assuage Republicans.

That adds up to close to $1T in what's known as the "tax gap." Read a breakdown on the main drivers of tax evasion (distinct from legal tax avoidance) in the US.

Before Social Security benefits were available to American retirees, they had to find other ways to get by. Pensions were only available to roughly 15% of workers, and most elderly Americans went without meaningful economic security.

This article includes tips on how to spot a Social Security scam, including information about what the real Social Security Administration will and will not do. For instance, the Social Security Administration will never threaten someone with benefits suspension or bank account seizure if they do not comply with a request.

As more Baby Boomers start collecting Social Security for more years than the system anticipated—and, simultaneously, birth rates trend down—the Social Security system is feeling the squeeze. When fewer workers pay into Social Security, there's less money overall for retirees to collect. Learn more about what's next for Social Security in this video.

Federal grants support a large portion of state and local budgets, funding Medicaid, infrastructure, education, and housing. In FY 2024, these transfers made up about 16% of total federal spending.

In the US, the top 1% of earners contribute 45% of all personal income taxes collected nationwide. But not all states are created equal when it comes to income tax. Some states are more dependent on the 1% than others for tax revenue. SmartAsset recently examined IRS tax return data to determine exactly how much the top 1% of earners in each state paid in taxes. Find your state here.

To calculate your Social Security benefit, the government uses information such as your birthday, current earnings, future retirement date, and more. Calculate an estimation for your future Social Security monthly benefit here.

Specifically, it noted that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund will be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2033, which was unchanged from the previous year’s report.

Myths include the pervasive ideas that undocumented immigrants drain Social Security, members of Congress don't pay into Social Security, the program itself is “going broke,” and more.

Corporate taxes, which make up roughly a third of the federal government's revenue, have been calculated using a flat 21% rate since the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017. The current rate is considered low both by historic standards (it averaged over 50% in the 1950s and 1960s) and compared to other countries.

Americans ages 28 to 44 save about 13.5% of their pretax income on average, which is close to the recommended retirement savings rate of 15%.

The Social Security is one of the most authoritative sources for data on baby names each year. Here's the list of last year's top ten baby names among those children born in the US.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal created new government agencies and programs in the wake of the Great Depression.

Local governments allocate 39% of their spending to K-12 education, while states allocate less than 1% directly—although much of local education funding actually comes from state and federal grants to local communities. States instead allocate their budgets to public welfare and health programs (45%) and higher education (15%).

In 2019, the federal government covered about one-sixth of the $79B spent on public transit. States and localities make up the rest. About 85% of all transit trips are taken by bus or heavy rail, and nearly 4 in 10 US transit trips occur in the New York City metro area.

Until 1975, Congress had to act each time Social Security benefits were increased. The 1970s saw particularly high inflation rates that eroded the purchasing power benefits, leading to the change.

The NSF accounted for 0.1% of all federal spending in FY2024, with $9.39B—just over twice its FY1991 spending—out of $6.78T overall. Almost 99% of these funds ($9.29B) went to general science and basic research, with the rest allocated to national defense.

Public K-12 schools spent around $857B in 2024, averaging $17,277 per student. State and local sources shouldered nearly 90% of costs, and federal funds provided about $2,400 per pupil.

It costs the IRS a significant amount of money to do part of its job—collecting money. For instance, the Internal Revenue Service spent $16.1B to collect $4.7T in taxes in 2023.