Social Security’s trust funds are projected to run dry by 2032, which would trigger an automatic benefit reduction of roughly 20% to 22% unless Congress acts. One prominent approach would raise the full retirement age, currently 67 for people born in 1960 or later, potentially reducing lifetime benefits for younger workers who claim before the new threshold. A competing proposal from Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, would increase benefits by $200 a month for nearly all current recipients, including retirees, Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries and survivor-benefit recipients. The bill would also use the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly to calculate annual cost-of-living adjustments and restore payroll taxes on earnings above $250,000, while Sanders’ office says 91% of households earning $250,000 or less would avoid a tax increase. Neither proposal is close to becoming law, leaving lawmakers under pressure as the 2032 deadline approaches.