Social Security Income, Cost, and Asset Reserves

The asset reserves of the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Trust Funds represent the accumulation over time of the difference between income and cost. The growth of the asset reserves from the end of December 1989 through the end of March 2024 is shown below by calendar quarter.

click on graph for table on income, cost, and asset reserves

Asset reserves grew from about $163 billion at the end of December 1989 to about $2,908 billion ($2.9 trillion) by the end of December 2020. Since the end of December 2020, asset reserves have declined slightly to about $2,767 billion ($2.8 trillion) by the end of March 2024.

Operations in quarter
ending March 31, 2024
[In billions]
Income	$343.3
Cost	364.3
Difference	-21.0

**Operations in fiscal year 2023^a**
[In billions]
Income	$1,332.9
Cost	1,354.6
Difference	-21.6
^aThe period from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.

**Operations in calendar year 2023^a**
[In billions]
Income	$1,350.7
Cost	1,392.1
Difference	-41.4
^aThe period from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023.

Click on graph to see income and cost amounts by quarter

Note that there is much more seasonality in trust fund income compared to trust fund cost. There are 2 primary reasons for seasonality in the quarterly income figures.

Tax income generally reaches a peak in the second calendar quarter when many self-employed people pay their taxes with their income tax returns. After the second quarter, tax income falls as earnings of more and more people reach the taxable maximum for Social Security.
Interest on special-issue securities is paid on June 30 and December 31. While relatively small amounts of interest are paid in every month when securities are redeemed, interest income is always largest in the second and fourth quarters.

The combination of the seasonality in tax and interest income has made total income highest in the second quarter of each year. Since 1992, the second highest total income amount has been in the fourth quarter.