Proposed Provision: B5.8. Beginning in 2023, create a Basic Minimum Benefit (BMB) within Social Security (i.e., the cost of the BMB would be charged as a cost to the OASI Trust Fund), with the following specifications: (1) Eligibility for the BMB would be limited to OASI beneficiaries who have attained normal retirement age (NRA) or above. OASI beneficiaries under NRA would not be eligible for the BMB. (2) The BMB would be calculated on a household basis and split equally between members of the household. In the case of a married couple, both spouses would need to claim any Social Security benefits for which they are eligible before they could receive the BMB. If both spouses have claimed and one is NRA or above and the other has not yet attained NRA, only the half of the BMB for the spouse over NRA would be payable. (3) The BMB amount for single beneficiaries would be equal to either: 1) the BMB base ($604 in 2015) - 0.70 * current monthly OASI benefit (not including any BMB), if positive; or 2) zero. (4) The BMB amount for married beneficiaries would be equal to either: 1) the BMB base ($906 in 2015) - 0.70 * total household monthly OASI benefits (not including any BMB), if positive; or 2) zero. (5) The BMB bases for singles and couples would be updated annually for changes in the average wage index (AWI). (6) Single filers with Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) over $30,000 and joint filers with AGI (including taxable SS benefits) over $45,000 would be subject to clawback of the BMB through the income tax system. Any BMB would be reduced by one dollar for every dollar of income above the thresholds. (Thresholds, in 2015 dollars, would be indexed to chained CPI-U.) Clawbacks would be credited back to the OASI Trust Fund.

OASDI Trust Fund Ratio
(assets as a percentage of annual expenditures)

Year Current Law Provision
2018288288
2019272272
2020256256
2021239239
2022223223
2023206204
2024188186
2025171168
2026154150
2027137133
2028120115
202910497
20308680
20316961
20325143
20333324
2034144
2035-5-16
2036-25-37
2037-46-58
2038-67-80
2039-88-103
2040-110-125
2041-132-148
2042-154-172
2043-176-195
2044-199-219
2045-221-243
2046-244-266
2047-267-290
2048-289-314
2049-312-338
2050-335-362
2051-358-386
2052-381-410
2053-403-434
2054-426-459
2055-450-483
2056-473-507
2057-496-532
2058-520-557
2059-544-582
2060-569-608
2061-594-635
2062-619-661
2063-645-689
2064-671-716
2065-698-745
2066-725-773
2067-752-802
2068-780-831
2069-808-861
2070-837-891
2071-866-922
2072-896-953
2073-927-985
2074-958-1018
2075-990-1052
2076-1023-1086
2077-1057-1122
2078-1092-1159
2079-1128-1196
2080-1165-1235
2081-1202-1274
2082-1240-1313
2083-1278-1353
2084-1316-1393
2085-1354-1434
2086-1392-1474
2087-1430-1514
2088-1468-1553
2089-1505-1593
2090-1543-1632
2091-1580-1671
2092-1618-1710
2093-1655-1750
back