Floridian retirees are growing more concerned as warnings intensify about the financial future of Social Security.
In 2025, the trust fund was forecast to run out in 2033, according to USA TODAY. Critics say the retirement trust fund could now be depleted by 2032, a deadline that would trigger cuts for about 70 million Americans.
If Congress doesn’t act and allows the trust fund to empty, the program will pay out only what the government collects in taxes. On average, beneficiaries would lose about $500 a month, the nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Budget estimates.
“This should be a wake-up call: Congress needs to act,” said Myechia Minter-Jordan, chief executive at AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing older adults. “Americans have worked hard and paid into Social Security their entire lives, and they deserve to count on it when they retire. ”
How many people in Florida receive Social Security benefits?
As of December 2025, 5,294,001 people in Florida claimed Social Security benefits, including:
What’s being done? How can Congress protect Social Security benefits?
As warnings grow about potential benefit cuts, lawmakers have floated a wide range of proposals in recent years, a trend seen in ongoing Social Security reform news by USA TODAY.
“They could have done so at any point in the past two decades at considerably less cost,” according to Stephen Nuñez, the progressive Roosevelt Institute’s director for stratification economics.
The last time Congress enacted major, comprehensive reforms to Social Security was in 1983, more than four decades ago.
Whether lawmakers can muster the same resolve again remains an open question.
July 2026 Social Security payment schedule
Social Security benefits, paid mostly to recipients who are older or retired, are typically issued on Wednesdays, and most people receive their check on one of three Wednesdays each month, depending on their birth date. In June, that means:
People who started getting Social Security before May 1997 follow a different schedule and are paid on the third of each month instead of a Wednesday‑based date.
See the full 2026 Social Security and SSI payment schedule
Where can I find a Social Security office in Florida?
There are 52 Social Security offices in Florida. You can find one near you at ssa.gov/locator.
Note that not all offices offer all SSA services.
Samantha Neely is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, covering pop culture, theme parks, breaking news and more. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Is Social Security running out sooner? Timeline, what’s being done
Reporting by Samantha Neely, C. A. Bridges and Medora Lee, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Samantha Neely, C. A. Bridges and Medora Lee, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
