No surplus since 2020. And you would prefer the funds give up $63.7 Billion in interest per year and just sit on the incoming payroll taxes without investing them? (Bigger Social Security deficits then).
https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/STATS/table4a1.html
No surplus since 2020. There has been a financial shortfall over the last five years of approximately $200 billion. The government Social Security website tells us that this financial shortfall has been covered with the interest earned from the $2.7 trillion in the Social Security Trust Fund that represents the SPENT surplus contributions. I call BS on that. Either Federal deficit spending has covered the financial shortfall or the federal government which is more than $37.5 trillion in debt and has an annual budget deficit of $1.85 trillion has been able to pay interest on $2.7 trillion of U.S. Treasury Notes that merely represent SPENT money. The interest payment to the $2.7 trillion of U.S. Treasury Notes are nothing more than a ledger entry. Federal deficit spending has been covering the financial shortfall in Social Security.
The surplus Social Security contributions were “invested” in U. S. Treasury Notes which is not a real wealth creating investment. The only thing that gives a government bond any value is the power of the government to collect money from future taxpayers to cover that bond.