It will inevitably be means tested as it inches closer to bankruptcy. Thanks to BO, that inching has turned to galloping.
Means testing is, as you say, probably inevitable given the class envy politics of the day. It will, however, not provide a meaningful contribution to preventing the insolvency of Social Security simply because so few people have really saved very much for retirement. The median amount saved for retirement by Americans aged 55 to 74 is less than $125,000. If those folks follow the 4% Rule, they will supplement their Social Security payments by a princely $5,000 per year. It’s difficult to imagine Congress approving a reduction in benefits for people who have less than $40,000 in additional income, which would require $1,000,000 in retirement assets. I would be astonished if more than 2% to 3% of Americans have saved that much for retirement. So . . . yes, it will be means tested and, no, it will not help the situation very much.