Pick reform options and see how far they go toward keeping Social Security solvent for the next 75 years.
Each option's effect is the estimate of SSA's Office of the Chief Actuary on the 2026 Trustees Report baseline, transcribed, not a model estimate. The calculator only runs the trust fund ledger. Options are added without interactions, as in CRFB's Reformer, so a plan's total is a rough guide, not a formal score.
OptionsCost-of-living adjustmentBenefit formula and levelsRetirement agePayroll tax rateTaxable maximumBroaden the base and other revenueIncome taxation of benefits
75-year shortfall closed0%
Trust funds run out2034
Benefit cut when they do17%
75-year balance, % of payroll−4.42
Current law. Pick options on the left to build a plan.
Trust fund ratio
Reserves at the start of each year as a percent of that year's cost
This page models the combined OASDI funds (retirement plus disability), which the Trustees project to run out in 2034 with 83% of scheduled benefits payable. The retirement fund alone (OASI) runs out sooner, in late 2032, with 78% payable: a 22% cut. That is the headline CRFB uses, so the two tools' current-law dates differ by definition, not by disagreement.
How this compares with CRFB
CRFB's Social Security Reformer does not publish its option figures as a table, so the comparison uses the numbers CRFB states in its posts. Gaps are reported, not tuned away. CRFB's figures rest on the 2025 Trustees Report, whose 75-year deficit was smaller, so the same option closes a larger share there.
Current law, depletion year (oasi): Retirement fund alone. The ledger models combined OASDI, so our side is the Trustees' own OASI figure, transcribed, not computed. (Trustees (OASI), transcribed)
Current law, benefit cut at depletion (oasi): Retirement fund alone; our side is 100 minus the Trustees' 78% payable, transcribed. (Trustees (OASI), transcribed)
Current law, depletion year: CRFB gives the combined date only approximately; 2026 + 8 = 2034. (Ledger, current law)
Eliminate the taxable maximum (enacted 2026), share of 75-year shortfall closed: CRFB does not say whether newly taxed wages earn benefit credit; E2.1 gives none (E2.2, with credit, closes less). CRFB's baseline deficit is an earlier, smaller vintage, so the same dollars close a larger share. (Ledger on OCACT E2.1)
Eliminate the taxable maximum (enacted 2026), depletion year: Same mapping as above; E2.2 (with benefit credit) is depleted in 2055 on OCACT's own table. (Ledger on OCACT E2.1)
Progressive price indexing above the 30th percentile (enacted 2026), share of 75-year shortfall closed: OCACT's B1.2 starts with those newly eligible in 2033; CRFB's version is enacted in 2026 and its start date is not stated. A later start closes less. (Ledger on OCACT B1.2)
Progressive price indexing above the 30th percentile (enacted 2026), depletion year: CRFB says insolvency moves by about one week. (Ledger on OCACT B1.2)
Eliminate the taxable maximum and progressive price indexing, share of 75-year shortfall closed: Both reasons above compound; our side adds the two OCACT estimates without interactions. (Ledger on OCACT E2.1, B1.2)
Eliminate the taxable maximum and progressive price indexing, depletion year: Both reasons above compound; CRFB's "never" is measured on its own, earlier baseline. (Ledger on OCACT E2.1, B1.2)
How the ledger works
Baseline: income and cost rates from the 2026 Trustees Report (Table IV.B1), taxable payroll and the trust fund interest factor from Table VI.G1, reserves at the end of 2025 from Table VI.G2.
Options: each option's year-by-year change in cost and income rates, from OCACT's provision tables.
Ledger: reserves grow at the Trustees' interest factor plus each year's income minus cost. The funds run out in the first year reserves end negative.
Checks: current law comes out at 2034 and 83% payable (Trustees: 2034, 83%), and the 75-year balance at −4.44% (Trustees: −4.42%). Each option's change in the balance matches OCACT's own figure to 0.01 points, and its depletion year matches in 32 of 33 cases (one is a year early).
Not modelled: interactions between options, effects on the rest of the budget, who gains and loses, and Medicare's trust fund. For the ten-year budget cost of payroll tax changes, see the payroll proposals on Explore.