It should come as no surprise that the reserve trust funds for Social Security are running low. This has been an ongoing issue for many years now, and if lawmakers don't act soon, retirees could be looking at a cut to their benefits.

But what did come as a bit of a surprise is that the Social Security program is burning through these trust funds faster than expected. In its annual report, the Social Security Board of Trustees said the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which is used to fund benefits for retirees and their spouses and certain eligible children, will be depleted by 2033. Meanwhile, if the OASI were combined with the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund, which helps pay benefits to disabled workers and their families, the combined fund would be depleted by 2034.

Both funds are now expected to be depleted one year ahead of schedule. Let's take a look at how this happened and how this will impact Social Security benefits.

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Source Fool.com