Social Security is an essential source of income for millions of retirees. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), around 50 million retired people collected Social Security benefits in 2020.

However, the 2022 Social Security Trustees report shows that in 2034, seniors will have their monthly benefit amount reduced if Congress doesn’t tackle the funding issues for the social program. To put it another way, Social Security will still be around in 2034, but retirees will only get 77% of their full retirement benefit starting then.

According to Alicia H. Munnell, director of the Center of Retirement Research at Boston College, “When it comes to Social Security, no major changes have been made at all since the early 1980s.” She also stated that this forces Congress to intervene, or else most retirees’ benefits will be reduced by nearly 25%.

We spoke with experts about how the federal program works, why it faces a funding issue, and what Congress can do to fix it.