Many Americans believe the Social Security system is about to collapse but it is more likely to continue because the system still has a chance of being fixed.
The key to Social Security is to have enough people employed to pay the taxes for pension benefits but the U.S. has an aging population and it is forecast that obligations will outpace taxes.
However, as My San Antonio explains in "Will Social Security Last Until I Retire?" that does not mean that Social Security will go broke soon nor does it mean that Social Security will disappear when its benefits exceed its revenues.
Currently, Social Security has another source of revenue.
In years when taxes exceed benefits the extra money is invested in Treasury securities and earns interest. For now the total revenue from taxes and interest is still greater than the amount paid out in benefits.
That is expected to continue for another few years.
In fact, the situation does not become too problematic until 2034 based on current projections, which gives ample time to fix the system. Even if the system is not fixed by 2034, that does not mean that Social Security would disappear entirely in that year. At that time revenue would still cover approximately 79% of projected benefits.
In a worst case scenario, people would most likely just receive smaller benefit checks.
There is still plenty of time to fix Social Security despite the fact that the two major political parties disagree on how to fix the system.
Reference: My San Antonio (March 19, 2016) "Will Social Security Last Until I Retire?"