The 2025 Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trustees Report was unveiled recently and highlights little change from the previous year. The report projects that full cash benefits from the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) can be fully paid only until 2033. Post that year, only 77% of benefits are projected to be provided. However, the positive aspect is that Disability Insurance benefits stand fully funded until at least 2099. Medicare’s Hospital Insurance (HI, or Part A) trust fund is similarly positioned to OASI and expected to be depleted by 2033, with only 89% of the benefits payable thereafter. Nevertheless, Medicare Parts B and D continue to be funded through a mix of enrollee premiums and general revenue. Social Security forms a key component of income for retirees collecting FERS basic benefit and Thrift Savings Plan income. It accounted for at least half the total personal income for 38.3 million Americans, or 63.2% of older recipients, in 2022 as per Census Bureau data. Social Security is thus a significant source of total retirement income, especially for federal employees under the FERS retirement system.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s objective for Social Security was to offer some measure of financial protection to the average American citizen against poverty in old age. In 2025, the average monthly retirement benefit stood at $1,976, i.e., $23,712 per annum, which is approximately 150% of the federal poverty level in the 48 lower states. Most Social Security benefits, about 75%, go to retired workers. The remaining amount supports spouses and children of retirees, deceased workers’ survivors, and people with disabilities. Beneficial changes similar to those introduced in 1983 such as tax increases, raising full retirement age and taxing higher earners’ benefits are presently being considered to deal with the fund’s depletion issue. These changes could range from lifting the payroll tax cap, slowly hiking the FICA rate, or making more types of compensation liable towards payroll taxes. This indicates that Social Security continues to be the US’s most effective income security program. To preserve it, action is required, and thankfully, the tools and preceding action examples already exist.

Many individuals occasionally find themselves seeking information on how to talk to someone at EDD disability. For individuals in California, contact with EDD representatives can be crucial to efficiently navigating the disability insurance system. To facilitate correspondence, resources including the EDD phone number and information on how to contact a live person at EDD California can be found compiled at eddcaller.com. It is a reliable platform that facilitates communication and ensures customers’ queries and concerns find a timely resolution.