Social Security has undergone many changes this year, largely due to President Donald Trump‘s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which implemented tax deductions for senior citizens’ retirement benefits.

Trump, who has repeatedly said he will continue protecting Social Security, is working to implement other plans beyond the GOP megabill to help save the program, which is at risk of insolvency.

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Here are some facts to know about Social Security’s changes so far this year under the bill and otherwise, how the changes affect retirees, and what may be in the federal program’s future.

How did Trump’s bill change Social Security?

Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes a temporary $6,000 deduction for seniors age 65 and older if each files as a single taxpayer and makes less than $75,000 in modified adjusted gross income annually. For married couples who make less than $150,000 per year, the $6,000 deduction is doubled. This is in addition to the standard senior deduction already in place.

With the new deduction, the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers estimates 88% of senior citizens will pay no taxes on their Social Security benefits. The massive tax and spending law didn’t outright eliminate federal income taxes on Social Security, but it did indirectly reduce them.

In the process, the Social Security trust funds are on track to be depleted over the next decade.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget recently predicted that Social Security will face an automatic 24% cut by the time the trust funds run out in late 2032. The figure translates to an $18,100 annual benefit cut for a dual-earning couple retiring in early 2033. The cut in Social Security benefits is expected to exceed 30% by 2099, according to the nonprofit group’s analysis.

The seven-year gap between now and 2032 leaves little time for Congress to come up with a solution for the funding shortfall. Social Security partially generates its revenue from taxes on benefits.

Separate from the legislation, the Trump administration is implementing reforms aimed at modernizing the Social Security payment systems and improving efficiency.

The Social Security Administration announced last month that it will phase out paper checks to recipients in favor of electronic payments beginning Sept. 30. Beneficiaries are encouraged to switch to direct deposit or choose the direct express credit card to continue receiving their monthly payments. The agency noted that less than 1% will be affected by the shift from paper to digital.

Will Trump privatize Social Security?

It’s possible Trump may privatize Social Security through his newly unveiled “Trump accounts,” which allow children born during his second term to receive a $1,000 investment account. The idea is that as children age, they will accrue more money in time for retirement.

“In a way, it is a backdoor for privatizing Social Security,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said late last month. “If all of a sudden these accounts grow and you have in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for your retirement, then that’s a game changer.”

Bessent’s remarks drew backlash from Democrats, who argue the administration is trying to replace Social Security with the new so-called “Trump accounts.” Bessent feels differently.

“Trump Baby Accounts are an additive benefit for future generations, which will supplement the sanctity of Social Security’s guaranteed payments,” he wrote on X. “This is not an either-or question: our Administration is committed to protecting Social Security and to making sure seniors have more money.”

After the federal government makes the initial $1,000 contribution to each investment account, parents and relatives can contribute up to $5,000 per year until the child turns 18 years old.

What is the Social Security Fairness Act?

Months before the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Congress passed bipartisan legislation repealing two federal provisions that previously reduced Social Security benefits for over 2.8 million people who received pensions based on jobs for which they did not pay Social Security taxes.

The Social Security Fairness Act eliminated the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, resulting in increased Social Security benefits for public sector employees.

The new law benefits teachers, firefighters, and police officers in certain states, federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System, and people whose work has been covered by a foreign social security program.

The bill was signed into law by former President Joe Biden in January, weeks before he left office. The rate increase retroactively applied to payments earned past December 2023. The Social Security Administration paid over a million people more than $7.5 billion in retroactive payments through March 4, the agency said.

How do tariffs factor into Social Security?

The Trump administration claims rolling back the president’s tariff policy may put Social Security and Medicare at risk.

Justice Department Solicitor General D. John Sauer made the case in a Monday letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which is set to rule soon on the Court of International Trade’s ruling that struck down most of Trump’s tariffs.

Sauer argued that if the administration was “forced to pay back the trillions of dollars committed to us” by foreign trading partners, the United States could experience a severe depression such as the one in 1929.

“In such a scenario, people would be forced from their homes, millions of jobs would be eliminated, hard-working Americans would lose their savings, and even Social Security and Medicare could be threatened,” Sauer said.

SOCIAL SECURITY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AND HOW LONG IT WILL LAST

While some say Social Security will be harmed if the tariffs are repealed, it stands to reason that the program will benefit if Trump’s tariff policy remains in place. Some argue the tariffs will boost domestic manufacturing and job growth, thereby increasing the number of workers contributing to the Social Security trust funds through payroll taxes.

This could help alleviate the insolvency problem that Social Security is set to face in the next decade.