Now that Donald Trump has won the presidential election, Americans are watching to see how he deals with many economic, foreign and domestic issues.
One chief concern throughout the election campaign has been Social Security, which currently faces a funding crisis that would see benefits slashed by roughly 20 percent by as early as 2035.
Trump has been vocal in his pledge not to cut any Social Security benefits once he becomes president.
"I will not cut one penny from Social Security or Medicare," Trump said at a campaign rally in Florida this July. "And I will not raise the retirement age by one day."
However, in other interviews, Trump talked about how he would solve Social Security's funding crisis and seemed to indicate cuts could be on the horizon.
"There is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting," Trump told CNBC in March.
A few weeks later, he said he would "never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare," in an interview with conservative news outlet Breitbart.
A report from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) found that Trump's economic plans would "dramatically worsen Social Security's finances." His policies would increase Social Security's funding shortfall by $2.3 trillion, according to the CRFB.
Newsweek reached out to Trump for comment via email.
More than 72 million Americans rely on Social Security, and some of Trump's other calls to get rid of taxes could inadvertently cause a larger financial gap when it comes to benefits for seniors, experts say.
The funding crisis could be worsened by Trump's calls to end taxes on Social Security benefits, causing the SSA trust fund to get even smaller. Additionally, Trump promised voters he would stop taxing tips, implement tariffs and deport more undocumented immigrants, all of which could lead to less money going into Social Security's funding.
"The Trump campaign floated the idea of eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits months ago, but it's hard to see such a proposal seeing the light of day," Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek. "Taxes on Social Security benefits, especially for a growing aging population in the United States, bring in significant revenue to the federal government and would expand the deficit further if eliminated."
Staffing for the Social Security Administration is also an issue under Trump's second term.
"Republicans have been prominent in past years advocating for cuts to staffing at the department, and the result has been longer wait times for recipients who have issues receiving benefits," Beene said.
Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of michaelryanmoney.com, said Social Security reform needs to focus on a few critical factors.
For one, Americans tend to live longer now and have fewer children, changing the worker-to-beneficiary ratio. The payroll tax cap also means higher earners are contributing a smaller percentage of their incomes.
"Massive, sudden changes to Social Security are unlikely because of the program's popularity and importance to so many voters," Ryan said. "But incremental changes? Those are certainly possible."
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