2030? Social Security’s financial troubles are here and now

It’s good to be back writing columns for The Post again. And what better way to mark my return than to discuss one of my favorite topics — the dire state of Social Security’s finances. And how the system’s serious problems are hidden by ridiculous accounting.

I was off working on two projects and then went on a family vacation that included two of my grandchildren.

Spending time with them got me thinking how important it is that Social Security be there for their generation. Social Security has shown signs of becoming an issue in the presidential race, and last week the system’s trustees issued their annual report.

So after my grandkids went home, I took a look at the report. And, sure enough, on Page 163, I found the numbers I was looking for. They showed that the Treasury has had to borrow more than $200 billion from investors over the past three years to keep Social Security’s retirement and disability checks from bouncing.

The report doesn’t say this outright. In fact, if you do a superficial read, it looks like the system is doing better than ever, because its trust fund — its supposed reserve to meet future shortfalls — is the biggest it’s ever been.