Bad news, millennials: Social Security will be insolvent decades before you retire

The Social Security trust fund is expected to run out in just 18 years, according to a government report released on Wednesday.

The Social Security and Medicare trustees’ annual report concluded that if lawmakers do not act by 2034, the Social Security program will only be able to pay retirees 79 percent of promised benefits.

This estimate is unchanged from last year, while the Medicare trust fund is now expected to run out two years earlier than expected.

Only 6 percent of millennials expect to receive Social Security benefits at their current levels, while 51 percent don’t expect to receive any benefits at all when they reach retirement age.

Extending the life of program will require either raising taxes or cutting benefits, though, obviously, either course of action would be a highly unpopular political decision. Even among millennials, 61 percent oppose cuts to Social Security benefits.