The T-Bills are liabilities, not assets. They are worthless. They can only be cashed in by the USG, which must borrow the money. The interest is also a liability and represents nothing except a paper transaction. There is a reason why the SSTF is included as part of our national debt and is listed as intra-governmental holdings. There is no money in the SSTF, interest or T-bills.
SS is a pay-as-you-go-system. In 2017 we will start borrowing to pay the benefits. The 2041 date is meaningless in terms of the viability of the program. It is used by the Dems to give people the impression that the crisis is far off and the SSTF will see us through. It is nonsense.
They are only worthless if the government defaults.
Do you think we pay interest on the 9 trillion dollar debt? We do, and the interest alone is 7% of the budget (good thing interest rates are low). Do you object to interest paid to the Chinese?
In 2017 we will start borrowing to pay the benefits.
That's because we have borrowed the money from the SS surplus rather than raise money from other sources. Other sources could be government owned business (that's a socialist thing to do), raise taxes, selling government bonds, borrowing from the IMF, etc. Unless the budget is balanced, we are borrowing money from somewhere. Social Security is not the problem, irresponsible government spending is the problem.
They are liabilities and assets.