{"id":41638,"date":"2025-04-15T08:12:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T08:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=41638"},"modified":"2025-04-15T08:12:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T08:12:18","slug":"social-security-and-the-doge-chaos-3-biggest-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=41638","title":{"rendered":"Social Security And The DOGE Chaos: 3 Biggest Myths"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Updated, March 27, 2025: This post has been adjusted to clarify fraud issues and new Social Security directive relating to identity proofing requirements. <\/em><\/p>\n

Is there fraud, waste, and abuse in the Social Security system? Yes.<\/p>\n

Are mistakes being made? Yes.<\/p>\n

The purpose of DOGE is to increase government operational efficiency, cut federal spending, and reduce the size of government \u2014 who\u2019s not for that?<\/p>\n

This article has no political leaning, just facts.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the 3 biggest Social Security myths and what we can expect in the future because of DOGE.<\/p>\n

Myth No. 1: <\/strong>Social Security W<\/strong>ill Go Bankrupt<\/h2>\n

Fact<\/strong>: Social Security will not go bankrupt.<\/p>\n

Social Security only pays out what it takes in. Social Security is self-funded and not part of the general government fund. Social Security is funded through the 6.2% payroll and self-employment tax, income tax revenue from people who pay income tax on their Social Security benefits, and interest income from loans to the government in the form of U.S. Treasury securities. These income streams are deposited into the Social Security trust fund. As it stands now, if no changes are made to the existing structure, benefits will be reduced across the board anywhere from 20% to 33% as early as 2031. There are many solutions to fix the system, but that\u2019s a topic for another day. Some people say Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. Ponzi schemes always run out of money, Social Security will not. There will always be money being contributed to the Social Security trust fund, what is distributed is what is put in. It\u2019s a \u201cmoney in, money out\u201d system. In 2024, the Social Security trust fund had revenue of $1,417 trillion and expenses of $1,485 trillion dollars. See Social Security Trust Fund Data. As long as there are people working, there will be contributions to the trust fund. The real question is, in the future, what benefit amounts will be out based on the income stream.<\/p>\n

Myth #2<\/strong>: Really Old People (100-Years-Old plus) Or Dead People Are Receiving Benefits<\/h2>\n

Fact: <\/strong>There may be some instances where this happens but it\u2019s the exception rather than the rule.<\/p>\n

When someone files for a Social Security number, Social Security issues what\u2019s called a \u201cNumident.\u201d This record contains your Social Security number, date of birth, where you were born, names of your father and mother and a date of death field. <\/strong>This is the list of people by ages that\u2019s being presented to the public, you know, the people that are about 150 years old, and still receiving benefits, that list. Also on this list are all the children not eligible to receive benefits. What\u2019s important here is this is not the record that determines whether or not you get paid a Social Security benefit. <\/strong>The internal Social Security record that determines when and if you get paid is called the Master Beneficiary Record. On this record is the date of entitlement, the monthly payment amount, Medicare data and information relating to disability payments. This is the record that initiates a monthly payment of benefits, not the \u201cNumident.\u201d Without getting into details the problem with the \u201cNumident,\u201d and therefore the list presented to the public, is the ability to accurately enter the date of death into the system. The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration issued an update on March 17, 2025, stating that one-third of 1% of death benefits are wrong. See this website for more information: Social Security Provides Update about its Death Record. So, there is definitely some work to be done in this area to clean up the list.<\/p>\n

Myth #3: People Who Entered the U.S. Illegally<\/strong> Are Receiving Benefits<\/h2>\n

Fact: <\/strong>People who are in the United States illegally, for whatever reason, are not eligible to receive Social Security benefits. An immigrant who is authorized to work in the United State may apply for and receive a Social Security number.<\/p>\n

Immigrants who are undocumented may use a Social Security number that is false or stolen. If that\u2019s the case, they actually pay into the system but are unable to claim or receive benefits from their contributions. As unconventional as this sounds, they are actually contributing to the trust fund without being able to draw benefits from the fund.<\/p>\n

Most fraud dealing with Social Security comes from inside the United States, not with undocumented workers.<\/p>\n

The three principal areas of fraud are:<\/p>\n