2006 OASDI Trustees Report

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III. FINANCIAL OPERATIONS OF THE TRUST FUNDS AND
LEGISLATIVE CHANGES IN THE LAST YEAR

A. OPERATIONS OF THE OLD-AGE AND SURVIVORS INSURANCE
(OASI) AND DISABILITY INSURANCE (DI) TRUST FUNDS, IN
CALENDAR YEAR 2005

Detailed information on the operations of the OASI and DI Trust Funds1 during calendar year 2005 is presented in this section. Chapter IV provides projections for calendar years 2006-80.

1. OASI Trust Fund

A statement of the income and disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund in calendar year 2005, and of the assets of the fund at the beginning and end of the calendar year, is presented in table III.A1. Included in total receipts during calendar year 2005 were $508.7 billion in employment tax contributions. These contributions were partially offset by transfers totaling $1.9 billion to the General Fund of the Treasury for the estimated amount of refunds to employees who worked for more than one employer during a year and paid contributions on total earnings in excess of the contribution and benefit base.

Net contributions thus amounted to $506.9 billion, an increase of 7.2 percent over the amount in the preceding year. The increase in OASI tax contributions from calendar year 2004 to calendar year 2005 is due to increased earnings and the increase in the contribution and benefit base. (Table VI.A1 shows the tax rates and contribution and benefit bases in effect for past years.)

Income based on taxation of benefits amounted to $13.8 billion in 2005. This amount is lower than the receipts for 2004 because a sizable positive adjustment was made in 2004 reflecting updated data for prior years. Nearly 99 percent of this income represented amounts credited to the trust funds, based on estimated Federal personal income taxation of benefits, generally in advance of the actual receipt of taxes by the Treasury. The remaining 1 percent of the total income from taxation of benefits represented amounts withheld from the benefits paid to nonresident aliens.

Transfers among the General Fund of the Treasury and the OASI and DI Trust Funds are made periodically to adjust prior payments for the cost attributable to the granting of noncontributory wage credits for military service prior to 1957. In 2005, $350,000,000 was transferred from the OASI Trust Fund to the general fund.

Table III.A1.-Operations of the OASI Trust Fund, Calendar Year 2005 

[In millions]


Total assets, December 31, 2004
 
$1,500,622
Receipts:
 
Contributions:
   
Employment taxes
$508,718
 
   
Payments from the General Fund of the Treasury for contributions subject to refund
-1,855
     
Net contributions
 
506,863
 
Income based on taxation of benefit payments:
   
Withheld from benefit payments to nonresident aliens
145
 
   
All other, not subject to withholding
13,698
 
     
Total income from taxation of benefits
 
13,843
 
Transfer from the General Fund of the Treasury to adjust previous determinations
of costs attributable to noncontributory wage credits for military service
before 1957
 
-350
 
Reimbursement from the General Fund of the Treasury for costs of payments
to uninsured persons who attained age 72 before 1968
 
1/
 
Investment income and interest adjustments:
   
   
Interest on investments
84,025
 
   
Interest adjustments2
-46
 
     
Net investment income and interest adjustments
 
83,979
 
Gifts
 
1/
Total receipts
 
604,335
Disbursements:
   
 
Benefit payments:
   
   
Gross benefit payments
436,452
 
   
Offset for collected overpayments
-1,079
 
   
Reimbursement from the general fund for unnegotiated checks
-47
 
     
Net benefit payments
 
435,325
 
Transfer to the Railroad Retirement "Social Security Equivalent Benefit Account"
 
3,579
 
Payment for costs of vocational rehabilitation services for disabled beneficiaries
 
58
 
Administrative expenses:
   
   
Costs incurred by:
   
     
Social Security Administration
2,237
 
     
Department of the Treasury
729
 
   
Offsetting receipts from sales of supplies, materials, etc.
1/
 
   
Miscellaneous reimbursements from the general fund 3
-8
 
     
Net administrative expenses
 
2,957
Total disbursements
 
441,920
Net increase in assets
 
162,415
Total assets, December 31, 2005
 
1,663,037

1Between -$500,000 and $500,000.

2Includes (1) interest on transfers between the trust fund and the general fund account for the Supplemental Security Income program due to adjustments in the allocation of administrative expenses, (2) interest arising from the revised allocation of administrative expenses among the trust funds, (3) interest on certain reimbursements to the trust fund, and (4) interest on a transfer to the DI Trust Fund for the cost of vocational rehabilitation services that had been erroneously charged to that fund.

3Reimbursements for costs incurred in performing certain legislatively mandated activities not directly related to administering the OASI program.

Note: Totals do not necessarily equal the sums of rounded components.

Special payments are made to uninsured persons who meet certain requirements. The costs associated with providing such payments are largely reimbursable from the General Fund of the Treasury. Accordingly, transfers totaling $123,236 were made in 2005, reflecting costs incurred in fiscal years 1999-2004.

The OASI Trust Fund was credited with interest netting $84.0 billion, an increase of about 6.3 percent over 2004. Credited interest consisted of (1) interest earned on the investments of the trust fund, (2) interest on transfers between the trust fund and the general fund account for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program due to adjustments in the allocation of administrative expenses, (3) interest arising from the revised allocation of administrative expenses among the trust funds, (4) interest on certain reimbursements to the trust fund (see following discussion of administrative expenses), and (5) interest on a transfer to the DI Trust Fund for the cost of vocational rehabilitation services that had been erroneously charged to that fund. The remaining $2,256 of receipts consisted of gifts received under the provisions authorizing the deposit of money gifts or bequests in the trust funds.

Of the $441.9 billion in total disbursements, $435.3 billion was for net benefit payments. The amount of net benefit payments in calendar year 2005 represents an increase of 4.9 percent over the corresponding amount in calendar year 2004. This increase was due to (1) an increase in the total number of beneficiaries and (2) an increase in the average benefit amount primarily because of the automatic cost-of-living benefit increase of 2.7 percent which became effective for December 2004 under the automatic-adjustment provisions in section 215(i) of the Social Security Act.

Provisions of the Railroad Retirement Act require an annual financial interchange between the Railroad Retirement and OASDI programs. The purpose of such provisions is to put the OASI and DI Trust Funds in the same financial position they would have been had railroad employment always been covered by Social Security. Under those provisions, the Railroad Retirement Board and the Commissioner of Social Security determined that a transfer of $3.6 billion to the Social Security Equivalent Benefit Account from the OASI Trust Fund was required in June 2005.

A disbursement of $58 million was made in 2005 to cover the costs of vocational rehabilitation services furnished to disabled widow(er) beneficiaries and to those children of retired or deceased workers who were receiving benefits on the basis of disabilities that began before age 22. Reimbursement from the trust funds for the costs of vocational rehabilitation services is made only in those cases where the services contributed to the successful rehabilitation of the beneficiaries. The $58 million disbursement consisted of (1) a transfer to the DI Trust Fund of $56 million for costs erroneously charged to that fund over the period of October 1987 through March 2003, and (2) $2 million for current costs.

The remaining $3.0 billion of disbursements from the OASI Trust Fund represented net administrative expenses. The expenses incurred by various Federal agencies for administering the OASDI and Medicare programs are allocated and charged directly to each of the trust funds through which those programs are financed, on the basis of provisional estimates. Similarly, the expenses allocated for administering the SSI program are charged directly to the General Fund of the Treasury on a provisional basis. Periodically, as actual experience develops and is analyzed, adjustments to the allocations of administrative expenses for prior periods are effected by interfund transfers and transfers between the OASI Trust Fund and the general fund account for the SSI program, with appropriate interest adjustments. As described earlier, the interest adjustments arising from the reallocation of administrative expenses are recorded in the trust fund accounting under investment income.

The vast majority of OASI disbursements recorded as administrative expenses represent the cost of administering the program and are charged to the trust fund by the Social Security Administration ($2.2 billion in 2005). In addition, the Department of the Treasury charges directly to the trust fund certain expenses that it incurs in helping to administer the OASI program ($729 million in 2005). In addition a relatively small adjustment to administrative expenses is an offset ($251,376 in 2005) representing income from the sale of excess supplies and equipment.

Finally, certain net reimbursements are made from the General Fund of the Treasury for administrative costs incurred by the Social Security Administration in performing certain legislatively mandated activities that are not directly related to the OASI program. These reimbursements include the costs associated with union activities related to administering the OASI program and providing information to participants in certain pension plans. Such reimbursements totaled $8 million in 2005.

The assets of the OASI Trust Fund at the end of calendar year 2005 totaled $1,663.0 billion (10.8 percent more than at the end of 2004), consisting of $1,663.7 billion in U.S. Government obligations and, as an offset, an extension of credit amounting to $0.7 billion against securities to be redeemed within the following few days. The effective annual rate of interest earned by the assets of the OASI Trust Fund during calendar year 2005 was 5.4 percent, as compared to 5.7 percent earned during calendar year 2004. A detailed listing of OASI Trust Fund holdings by type of security, interest rate, and year of maturity at the end of each calendar year 2004 and 2005 can be found in appendix A.

All securities held by the trust funds are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government, as required by law. Those currently held by the OASI Trust Fund are special issues (i.e., securities sold only to the trust funds). These are of two types: short-term certificates of indebtedness and long-term bonds. The certificates of indebtedness are issued on a daily basis for the investment of receipts not required to meet current expenditures, and they mature on the next June 30 following the date of issue. Special-issue bonds, on the other hand, are normally acquired only when special issues of either type mature on June 30. The amount of bonds acquired on June 30 is equal to the amount of special issues maturing, less amounts required to meet expenditures on that day.

Section 201(d) of the Social Security Act provides that the obligations issued for purchase by the OASI and DI Trust Funds shall have maturities fixed with due regard for the needs of the funds. The usual practice has been to spread the holdings of special issues, as of each June 30, so that the amounts maturing in each of the next 15 years are approximately equal. Accordingly, the amounts and maturity dates of the OASI special-issue bonds purchased on June 30, 2005, with an interest rate of 4.125 percent, were selected so that the maturity dates of the total portfolio of special issues were spread evenly over the 15-year period 2006-20. The amount of bonds purchased on June 30, 2005 is shown in table III.A7.

2. DI Trust Fund

A statement of the income and disbursements of the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund in calendar year 2005, and of the assets of the fund at the beginning and end of the calendar year, is presented in table III.A2.

Line entries in the DI statement are similar to those in the OASI statement and the explanations of the OASI entries generally apply to DI as well.

Net contributions amounted to $86.1 billion, an increase of 7.2 percent from the amount in the preceding calendar year. This increase is attributable to the same factors, insofar as they apply to the DI program, that accounted for the change in contributions to the OASI Trust Fund.

Of the $88.0 billion in total disbursements, $85.4 billion was for net benefit payments. This represents an increase of 9.2 percent over the corresponding amount of benefit payments in calendar year 2004. This increase in DI benefit payments is due to the same factors that resulted in the net increase in benefit payments from the OASI Trust Fund. However, the number of persons receiving benefits from the DI Trust Fund increased more rapidly in 2005 than the number receiving benefits from the OASI Trust Fund largely due to a) the current ages of the baby-boom generation, b) the scheduled increase in the normal retirement age (NRA), and c) the special administrative action, undertaken by SSA beginning in 2001, to identify and award benefits from the DI Trust Fund to a substantial number of current and former recipients of SSI benefits whose disability-insured status under the DI program was not previously recognized. Total DI disbursements started to exceed non-interest income in 2005, but were still less than total income, including interest.

Table III.A2.-Operations of the DI Trust Fund, Calendar Year 2005 

[In millions]


Total assets, December 31, 2004
 
$186,217
Receipts:
   
 
Contributions:
   
   
Employment taxes
$86,392
 
   
Payments from the General Fund of the Treasury for contributions subject to refund
-315
 
     
Net contributions
 
86,077
 
Income based on taxation of benefit payments:
   
   
Withheld from benefit payments to nonresident aliens
5
 
   
All other, not subject to withholding
1,068
 
     
Total income from taxation of benefits
 
1,073
 
Investment income and interest adjustments:
   
   
Interest on investments
10,221
 
   
Interest adjustments 1
52
 
     
Total investment income and interest adjustments
 
10,273
Total receipts
 
97,423
Disbursements:
   
 
Benefit payments:
   
   
Gross benefit payments
85,945
 
   
Offset for collected overpayments
-551
 
   
Reimbursement from the general fund for unnegotiated checks
-21
 
     
Net benefit payments
 
85,373
 
Transfer to the Railroad Retirement "Social Security Equivalent Benefit Account"
 
338
 
Payment for costs of vocational rehabilitation services for disabled beneficiaries
 
-9
 
Administrative expenses:
   
   
Costs incurred by:
   
     
Social Security Administration
2,190
 
     
Department of the Treasury
127
 
   
Miscellaneous reimbursements from the general fund 2
-2
 
     
Net administrative expenses
 
2,315
Total disbursements
 
88,018
Net increase in assets
 
9,405
Total assets, December 31, 2005
 
195,623

1Includes (1) interest on transfers between the trust fund and the general fund account for the Supplemental Security Income program due to adjustments in the allocation of administrative expenses, (2) interest arising from the revised allocation of administrative expenses among the trust funds, (3) interest on certain reimbursements to the trust fund, and (4) interest on a transfer to the DI Trust Fund for the cost of vocational rehabilitation services that had been erroneously charged to that fund.

2Reimbursements for costs incurred in performing certain legislatively mandated activities not directly related to administering the DI program.

Note: Totals do not necessarily equal the sums of rounded components.

The assets of the DI Trust Fund at the end of calendar year 2005 totaled $195.6 billion, consisting of $195.7 billion in U.S. Government obligations and, as an offset, an extension of credit amounting to $0.1 billion against securities to be redeemed within the following few days. The effective annual rate of interest earned by the assets of the DI Trust Fund during calendar year 2005 was 5.5 percent, compared to 5.7 percent earned during calendar year 2004. A detailed listing of DI Trust Fund holdings by type of security, interest rate, and year of maturity at the end of each calendar year 2004 and 2005 can be found in appendix A.

3. OASI and DI Trust Funds, Combined

A statement of the operations of the income and disbursements of the OASI and DI Trust Funds, on a combined basis, is presented in table III.A3. The entries in this table represent the sums of the corresponding values from tables III.A1 and III.A2. For a discussion of the nature of these income and expenditure transactions, reference should be made to the two preceding subsections covering OASI and DI separately.

Table III.A3.-Operations of the Combined OASI and DI Trust Funds,
Calendar Year 2005 

[In millions]


Total assets, December 31, 2004
 
$1,686,839
Receipts:
   
 
Contributions:
   
   
Employment taxes
$595,110
 
   
Payments from the General Fund of the Treasury for contributions subject to
refund
-2,170
 
     
Net contributions
 
592,940
 
Income based on taxation of benefit payments:
   
   
Withheld from benefit payments to nonresident aliens
150
 
   
All other, not subject to withholding
14,766
 
     
Total income from taxation of benefits
 
14,916
 
Transfer from the General Fund of the Treasury to adjust previous determinations
of costs attributable to noncontributory wage credits for military service
before 1957
 
-350
 
Reimbursement from the General Fund of the Treasury for costs of payments
to uninsured persons who attained age 72 before 1968
 
1/
 
Investment income and interest adjustments:
   
   
Interest on investments
94,246
 
   
Interest adjustments 2
6
 
     
Total investment income and interest adjustments
 
94,252
 
Gifts
 
1/
Total receipts
 
701,758
Disbursements:
   
 
Benefit payments:
   
   
Gross benefit payments
522,397
 
   
Offset for collected overpayments
-1,630
 
   
Reimbursement from the general fund for unnegotiated checks
-68
 
     
Net benefit payments
 
520,699
 
Transfer to the Railroad Retirement "Social Security Equivalent Benefit Account"
 
3,917
 
Payment for costs of vocational rehabilitation services for disabled beneficiaries
 
50
 
Administrative expenses:
   
   
Costs incurred by:
   
     
Social Security Administration
4,427
 
     
Department of the Treasury
856
 
   
Offsetting receipts from sales of supplies, materials, etc.
1/
 
   
Miscellaneous reimbursements from the general fund 3

-10
 
     
Net administrative expenses
 
5,272
Total disbursements
 
529,938
Net increase in assets
 
171,821
Total assets, December 31, 2005
 
1,858,660

1Between -$500,000 and $500,000.

2Includes (1) interest on transfers between the trust funds and the general fund account for the Supplemental Security Income program due to adjustments in the allocation of administrative expenses, (2) interest arising from the revised allocation of administrative expenses among the trust funds, and (3) interest on certain reimbursements to the trust funds.

3Reimbursements for costs incurred in performing certain legislatively mandated activities not directly related to administering the OASI and DI programs.

Note: Totals do not necessarily equal the sums of rounded components.

To provide a context for estimates of future trust fund income and expenditures provided later in this report, table III.A4 compares past estimates of contributions and benefit payments for calendar year 2005, as shown in the 2001-05 Annual Reports, with the corresponding actual amounts in 2005.2

Table III.A4.-Comparison of Actual Calendar Year 2005 Trust Fund Operations
With Estimates Made in Prior Reports 1 

[Amounts in billions]

  
Net contributions  2
 
Benefit payments  3
Amount
Difference
from actual
(percent)
Amount
Difference
from actual
(percent)
OASI Trust Fund:
 
Estimate in 2001 report
$540.5
6.6
 
$449.9
3.3
 
Estimate in 2002 report
531.2
4.8
 
436.5
.3
 
Estimate in 2003 report
514.8
1.6
 
429.9
-1.3
 
Estimate in 2004 report
504.2
-.5
 
427.3
-1.8
 
Estimate in 2005 report
496.7
-2.0
 
433.7
-.4
 
Actual amount
506.9
-
 
435.4
-
DI Trust Fund:
 
Estimate in 2001 report
91.8
6.6
 
81.4
-4.7
 
Estimate in 2002 report
90.2
4.8
 
80.7
-5.4
 
Estimate in 2003 report
87.4
1.6
 
84.0
-1.7
 
Estimate in 2004 report
85.6
-.6
 
81.4
-4.6
 
Estimate in 2005 report
84.3
-2.0
 
83.9
-1.7
 
Actual amount
86.1
-
 
85.4
-
OASI and DI Trust Funds, combined:
 
Estimate in 2001 report
632.3
6.6
 
531.2
2.0
 
Estimate in 2002 report
621.4
4.8
 
517.3
-.7
 
Estimate in 2003 report
602.2
1.6
 
513.8
-1.3
 
Estimate in 2004 report
589.8
-.5
 
508.8
-2.3
 
Estimate in 2005 report
581.0
-2.0
 
517.6
-.6
 
Actual amount
592.9
-
 
520.7
-

1 The estimates shown are based on the intermediate assumptions.

2"Actual" contributions for 2005 reflect adjustments for prior calendar years (see appendix A for description of these adjustments). "Estimated" contributions also include such adjustments, but on an estimated basis.

3Includes payments, if any, for vocational rehabilitation services furnished to disabled persons receiving benefits because of their disabilities.

A number of factors can contribute to differences between estimates and subsequent actual amounts, including actual values for key demographic, economic, and other variables that differ from previously assumed levels. In addition, new legislation or other administrative initiatives that were unanticipated at the time the earlier estimates were completed can contribute to such differences. For example, in the case of DI benefit payments, the special administrative action, noted in the previous subsection and described in greater detail in the section on short-range estimates, has affected the estimates. Both the size of the resulting workload and the schedule for the completion of these cases have been revised several times over the past 4 years. The evolving understanding of this special workload played a significant role in the past variation in estimates for DI benefits in 2005.

At the end of calendar year 2005, about 48.4 million persons were receiving monthly benefits under the OASDI program. Of these persons, about 40.1 million and 8.3 million were receiving monthly benefits from the OASI Trust Fund and the DI Trust Fund, respectively. The number of persons receiving benefits from the OASI and DI Trust Funds grew by 1.0 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, during the calendar year. The estimated distributions of benefit payments in calendar years 2004 and 2005, by type of beneficiary, are shown in table III.A5 for each trust fund separately.

Table III.A5.-Distribution of Benefit Payments by Type of Beneficiary or Payment, Calendar Years 2004 and 2005 

[Amounts in millions]

 
Calendar year 2004
 
Calendar year 2005
Amount
Percentage
of total
Amount
Percentage
of total
Total OASDI benefit payments
$493,212
100.0
 
$520,699
100.0
 
OASI benefit payments
415,031
84.1
 
435,325
83.6
 
DI benefit payments
78,180
15.9
 
85,373
16.4
OASI benefit payments, total
415,031
100.0
 
435,325
100.0
 
Monthly benefits:
         
   
Retired workers and auxiliaries
327,100
78.8
 
345,056
79.3
     
Retired workers
304,224
73.3
 
321,670
73.9
     
Spouses
20,162
4.9
 
20,497
4.7
     
Children
2,714
.7
 
2,888
.7
   
Survivors of deceased workers
87,726
21.1
 
90,064
20.7
     
Aged widows and widowers
70,096
16.9
 
71,745
16.5
     
Disabled widows and widowers
1,555
.4
 
1,659
.4
     
Parents
24
1/
 
24
 1/
     
Children
14,537
3.5
 
15,101
3.5
     
Widowed mothers and fathers
caring for child beneficiaries
1,515
.4
 
1,535
.4
   
Uninsured persons generally aged 72 before 1968
2/
 1/
 
 2/
 1/
 
205
1/
 
206
1/
DI benefit payments, total
78,180
100.0
 
85,373
100.0
   
Disabled workers
71,665
91.7
 
78,361
91.8
   
Spouses
454
.6
 
483
.6
   
Children
6,061
7.8
 
6,529
7.6

1Less than 0.05 percent.

2Less than $500,000.

Note: Totals do not necessarily equal the sums of rounded components.

Net administrative expenses charged to the OASI and DI Trust Funds in calendar year 2005 totaled $5.3 billion. This amount represented 0.9 percent of contribution income and 1.0 percent of expenditures. Corresponding percentages for each trust fund separately and for the OASDI program as a whole are shown in table III.A6 for each of the last 5 years.

Table III.A6.-Administrative Expenses as a Percentage of Contribution Income and of Total Expenditures, Calendar Years 2001-05
Calendar year
OASI Trust Fund
 
DI Trust Fund
 
OASI and DI
Trust Funds,
combined
Contribution
income
Total
expenditures
Contribution
income
Total
expenditures
Contribution
income
Total
expenditures
2001
0.4
0.5
 
2.3
2.8
 
0.7
0.8
2002
.5
.5
 
2.7
3.0
 
.8
.9
2003
.6
.6
 
2.6
2.7
 
.9
1.0
2004
.5
.6
 
2.7
2.7
 
.8
.9
2005
.6
.7
 
2.7
2.6
 
.9
1.0

Changes in the invested assets of the OASI and DI funds between the end of 2004 and the end of 2005 are a result of the acquisition and disposition of securities during calendar year 2005. Table III.A7 presents these investment transactions for each trust fund separately and combined. Tables VI.A5 and VI.A6, presented in appendix A, show the assets of the OASI and DI Trust Funds at the end of calendar years 2004 and 2005.

Table III.A7.-Trust Fund Investment Transactions, Calendar Year 2005

[In millions]

 
OASI
Trust Fund
DI
Trust Fund
OASI and DI
Trust Funds,
combined
Invested assets, December 31, 2004
$1,500,764
$186,221
$1,686,985
Acquisitions:
 
Special issues:
     
   
Certificates of indebtedness
563,120
92,534
655,654
   
Bonds 1
253,823
22,395
276,218
 
Public issues:2
     
   
Treasury bonds
-
0
0
   
Total acquisitions
816,943
114,928
931,872
Dispositions:
 
Special issues:
     
   
Certificates of indebtedness
549,922
92,721
642,643
   
Bonds
104,059
12,684
116,743
 
Public issues:2
     
   
Treasury bonds
-
30
30
   
Total dispositions
653,982
105,435
759,416
Net increase in invested assets
162,962
9,494
172,456
Invested assets, December 31, 2005
1,663,726
195,715
1,859,441

1Amounts shown were purchased on June 30, 2005. The interest rate on such purchases was 4.125 percent.

2Dash indicates no holdings at any time during the year; zero indicates holdings during part of the year but no transactions. All public issues held by the DI Trust Fund were redeemed in February 2005.

Note: All investments are shown at par value.


1Trust fund data are available by month, quarter, or year on the Social Security website at www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/ProgData/fundsQuery.html.

2Estimated amounts used to calculate percentage errors are before rounding to amounts shown in the annual reports.


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