A rare midyear financial update requested by Congress shows the $11.1 billion deficit the agency posted at the end of its fiscal year on Sept. 30 has swelled by $22.5 billion to its highest level in the agency's 35-year history.
The agency's acting director says, however, that the more than 640,000 people who currently receive its checks need not worry about the deficit, though longer-term action might be needed.
"We have plenty of money to make those monthly payments promised to them for the near future," Vince Snowbarger said yesterday.
The agency does not insure 401(k) plans, but its fate is important not only to the workers covered by more than 29,000 employer-sponsored benefit pension plans but to all taxpayers who could be asked to foot the bill on a bailout if the agency ever becomes insolvent. When a company's pension plan is terminated, the agency takes over and pays benefits to the retired workers covered by the plan - although retirees don't always get 100 percent of what their employer promised.
The maximum guaranteed amount currently is $54,000 a year for a person retiring at age 65.
