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For most retirees, Social Security income is indispensable. A quarter-century of annual Gallup surveys shows that 80% to 90% of retirees need this payout, in some capacity, to cover their expenses.

But America's leading retirement program isn't on the best financial footing. The newly released 2026 Trustees Report highlights a $29.3 trillion long-term (75-year) funding shortfall, as well as the projected depletion of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund's (OASI) asset reserves by the fourth quarter of 2032. While Social Security won't go bankrupt or halt payouts, benefits for retired workers and survivors of deceased workers are at risk of being cut by an estimated 22%.

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If you peruse online message boards, you're virtually assured to find comments placing the blame for Social Security's financial shortcomings on Congress. Specifically, there's the belief that elected officials stole from Social Security's trust funds (the OASI and Disability Insurance trust fund (DI)), and that returning this cash, with interest paid, would fix the program.

There's just one problem: this long-lived and popular belief of Congress pilfering trillions from Social Security's proverbial cookie jar doesn't have a shred of evidence to back it up.

When the Social Security Act was signed into law in August 1935, one of its provisions stated that the program's asset reserves (i.e., excess income collected that wasn't outlaid for benefits or administrative expenses) would be invested in special-issue, interest-bearing government bonds.

These bonds are backed by the full faith of the U.S. government, which, aside from computer issues, has never missed an interest payment or a bond maturity date. This requirement that the trust fund's asset reserves be invested in special-issue government bonds also ensures that Social Security generates interest income on this excess cash. In other words, Social Security is already receiving interest income on cash held in its asset reserves.

Furthermore, the holdings of Social Security's "investment portfolio" are updated monthly and publicly available to anyone who wishes to view them. As of the end of April 2026, the combined OASI and DI held $2.541 trillion in asset reserves, which is generating an average interest rate of 2.633%.

Imagine going to your local bank to purchase a certificate of deposit (CD) yielding 4% over the next year. Your bank isn't going to take your cash, stick it in a vault, and allow it to collect dust over 12 months. Instead, it's going to lend out your capital to generate an even higher rate of return than the 4% it's agreed to pay you via CD. Just because your cash is in a CD rather than your checking account doesn't mean it's been stolen or pilfered. Everything is accounted for, just as every cent of Social Security's asset reserves is documented in its investment portfolio.

If these special-issue bonds were fully redeemed and the OASI's and DI's cash placed into a vault to collect dust, Social Security would no longer generate interest income and would be significantly worse off financially. This year, Social Security is forecast to collect $67 billion in interest income from its asset reserves.

The data couldn't be clearer: Congress hasn't stolen from Social Security, every cent is accounted for, and these funds are currently generating interest income.

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Did Congress Steal Trillions From Social Security's Trust Funds? The Data Tells the Irrefutable Truth. was originally published by The Motley Fool