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Social Security Online		 Trust Fund Data
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Social Security Income, Outgo, and Assets
Time series for income & outgo

The assets of the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Trust Funds consist of Federal Government securities. The growth of the assets from the end of December 1986 through the end of March 2009 is shown in the graph at right.

The assets are the accumulation over time of the difference between income and outgo. When the difference is positive, it's called a "surplus."

Operations in quarter
ending March 31, 2009
[In billions]
Income$185.3
Outgo167.2
Surplus18.1
 click on graph for table on income, outgo, and assets

Assets at the end of December 1986 were about $47 billion; by the end of March 2009, assets totaled about $2,437 billion ($2.4 trillion). As shown in the graph below, income has exceeded outgo in every calendar quarter over this time period.
Income and outgo amounts by quarter

Note that there is much more seasonality in trust fund income compared to trust fund outgo. There are 2 reasons for seasonality in the quarterly income figures.

  1. Tax income reaches a peak in the second calendar quarter when many self-employed people pay their taxes with their income tax returns. After the second quarter, tax income falls as earnings of more and more people reach the taxable maximum for Social Security.
  2. Interest on special-issue securities is paid on June 30 and December 31. While relatively small amounts of interest are paid in every month when securities are redeemed, interest income is always largest in the second and fourth quarters.
The combination of the seasonality in tax and interest income has made total income highest in the second quarter of each year. Since 1992, the second highest total income amount has been in the fourth quarter.

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Last reviewed or modified Monday May 4, 2009
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