Social Security isn't just an economic issue, it's a huge political issue, and that's confusing to many people, according to one political expert.
Democrats are currently accusing Republicans of wanting to put an end to Social Security, or to tinker with it and ruin it, but there have been accusations by both sides.
It's all politics as usual, Rice University Professor Bob Stein says, and there's no reason to take it seriously, when Congress doesn't seem to take it seriously either.
The system is really simple, he says, "in 1940 there were 42 workers for one retiree -- that system was great -- but by 1960 there were only 5 workers per retiree. In 2024 there were fewer than 3 workers per retiree." The system can't continue like this.
Congress knows Social Security is a problem that needs to be fixed, but the program is so popular that no one wants to touch it.
The system could be bankrupt by 2035 -- some say sooner, but there are variables, including the Social Security Trust fund, which buys US bonds and is subject to the vagaries of the markets.
As long as the markets are doing well, Social Security doing well, too -- it's hoped that the markets don't tank, or Congress might have to stop kicking the problem down the road and actually stop and fix it
And Elon Musk recently said the program is riddled with fraud, and he said just yesterday that it's a Ponzi scheme.
This could be a bad thing, what Elon says, because it could undermine faith in the system, Stein says, and Congress "doesn't want to look at this issue right away."
But what if Musk is right?
"What it does, is, it puts it on the agenda, doesn't it? If he keeps telling you there's fraud, and you're a Congressman, say a US senator, you can't ignore that."