What are the Social Security Trust Funds?

The Social Security Trust Funds include:

• The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund.
• The Disability Insurance Trust Fund.

Every year, the government-appointed Board of Trustees releases the annual Trustees Report on the financial outlook for the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds. The Department of the Treasury manages these funds. The law requires us to invest trust fund assets we don’t need to pay current benefits and administrative expenses. We invest them in interest-bearing obligations of the United States. These special obligations, issued exclusively to the Trust Funds, must pay interest equal to the prevailing rate on outstanding federal securities.