If you plan on retiring after 2037, you’d better get really serious about saving now. It might not hurt to also take a vow of poverty; that way you’ll feel like it’s your decision to live off of cardboard and dumpster fruit in your sixties.

Why are we being so pessimistic? Because the government says Social Security benefits and Medicare coverage are going to run out even sooner than they thought.

Trustees of the two programs said Tuesday that Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner.

The trustees said Medicare was in even worse shape. They said that the trust fund for hospital expenses will pay out more in benefits than it collects this year and will be insolvent by 2017, two years earlier than the date projected in last year’s report.

If you don’t know where to start, try browsing the posts under our “retirement” tag for some great stories and tips to get you pointed in the right direction.

“Social Security and Medicare Finances Worsen “ [Associated Press via the New York Times]
(Photo: rileyroxx)

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