The Social Security Reckoning Is Finally Coming

IdeasThe Social Security Reckoning Is Finally ComingSenators elected this November will be in office when America’s most popular federal program is on track to run out of money.By Marc NovicoffIllustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty.July 24, 2026, 7 AM ET ShareSave Americans have been hearing about the looming demise of Social Security for decades. The number of old people receiving benefits has been increasing much more quickly than the number of working-age adults whose taxes pay for those checks. Yet politicians have let the problem fester for so long that the public could be forgiven for thinking that the crisis would never actually arrive.But it’s arriving. For the past 16 years, Social Security has paid out more than it has taken in.

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