| | D. PROJECTIONS OF FUTURE FINANCIAL STATUS |
 | | The financial status of the trust funds over the next 75 years is measured in terms of cost and income as a percentage of taxable payroll, trust fund ratios, the actuarial balance (also as a percentage of taxable payroll), and the open group unfunded obligation (expressed in present-value dollars). |
 | | These calculations show that extending the horizon beyond 75 years continues to increase the unfunded obligation, indicating that much larger changes would be required to achieve solvency over the infinite future as compared to changes needed to balance 75-year period summary measures. |
 | | When the actuarial balance is negative, the actuarial deficit can be interpreted as the percentage that would have to be added to the current law income rate in each of the next 75 years, or subtracted from the cost rate in each year, to bring the funds into actuarial balance. |
| www.ssa.gov /OACT/TR/TR04/II_project.html |