India, Sept. 20 -- Social Security's trust fund is projected to run out of money in the last three months of 2032. Once the trust fund is depleted, the program would still collect payroll taxes from workers, but there would not be enough money to pay scheduled benefits in full.

The latest Social Security Board of Trustees report projects an immediate 22% cut in benefits if no changes are made. That means retirees and other Social Security recipients could see their monthly payments fall sharply.

One way being discussed to protect Social Security is to increase the payroll tax paid by workers and employers. The current Social Security payroll tax rate is 12.4%. The tax is normally split equally: 6.2% is paid by the employee and 6.2% by t...