2024 OASDI Trustees Report

 

B. TRUST FUND FINANCIAL OPERATIONS IN 2023

Table II.B1 shows the income, cost, and asset reserves for the OASI, the DI, and the combined OASI and DI Trust Funds in calendar year 2023.

Table II.B1.—Summary of 2023 Trust Fund Financial Operations

[In billions]

		OASI	DI	OASDI
Asset reserves at the end of 2022		$2,711.9	$118.0	$2,829.9
Total income in 2023 a		1,166.9	183.8	1,350.7
	Net payroll tax contributionsb	1,054.1	179.0	1,233.1
	Interest	63.0	3.8	66.9
	Taxation of benefits	49.8	.9	50.7
Total cost in 2023		1,237.3	154.8	1,392.1
	Benefit payments	1,227.4	151.9	1,379.3
	Administrative expenses	4.4	2.8	7.2
	Railroad Retirement financial interchange	5.6	.1	5.6
Net change in asset reserves in 2023		-70.4	29.0	-41.4
Asset reserves at the end of 2023		2,641.5	147.0	2,788.5

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a

Includes less than $50 million in reimbursements from the General Fund of the Treasury and gifts. See section III.A for details.

b

Includes adjustments for prior calendar years.

Note: Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

In 2023, net payroll tax contributions accounted for 91.3 percent of total trust fund income. Net payroll tax contributions consist of taxes paid by employees, employers, and the self-employed on earnings covered by Social Security. These taxes are paid on covered earnings up to a specified maximum annual amount, which was $160,200 in 2023. Table II.B2 shows the payroll tax rates for 2023.

Table II.B2.—Payroll Tax Contribution Rates for 2023

[In percent]

	OASI	DI	OASDI
Payroll tax contribution rate for employees	5.3	0.9	6.2
Payroll tax contribution rate for employers	5.3	.9	6.2
Payroll tax contribution rate for self-employed persons	10.6	1.8	12.4

Interest earned on invested trust fund asset reserves accounted for 5.0 percent of OASI and DI combined trust fund income in 2023. Revenue from subjecting up to 50 percent of Social Security benefits to Federal personal income taxation for beneficiaries with income (including half of benefits and all non-taxable interest received) exceeding specified levels accounted for 3.8 percent of OASDI income.

The Department of the Treasury invests all trust fund income in interest-bearing securities issued by the U.S. Government. In 2023, the combined trust fund reserves (the excess of all past income over all past cost) earned interest at an effective annual rate of 2.4 percent.

Retirement, survivor, and disability benefits accounted for 99.1 percent of OASI and DI combined trust fund cost in 2023. The expenses for administering the Social Security program were 0.5 percent of total cost. The net payment to the Railroad Retirement Social Security Equivalent Benefit Account from the combined OASI and DI Trust Funds accounted for 0.4 percent of total OASDI cost.

Trust fund reserves provide the basis for paying benefits. Combined trust fund reserves decreased by $41.4 billion during 2023 because income to the combined funds, including interest earned on trust fund reserves, was less than total cost. In last year’s report, combined reserves were projected to decrease by $53.2 billion in 2023. At the end of 2023, the combined reserves of the OASI and the DI Trust Funds were $2,788.5 billion, or 188 percent of estimated cost ¹ for 2024. In comparison, the combined reserves at the end of 2022 were 203 percent of actual cost for 2023.

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1

Estimated cost is based on the intermediate set of assumptions.