The US Gov’t Has $6 Trillion in Assets and $130 Trillion in Unfunded Liabilities

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by Michael Maharrey via: Schiff Gold

Through the first six months of fiscal 2021, the US government ran a record $1.7 trillion budget deficit. And there is no end in sight to the borrowing and spending. Just last month, the national debt eclipsed $28 trillion for the first time. But it’s even worse than that.

A lot worse.

When you include unfunded liabilities such as Social Security and Medicare, that actual US debt stands at $123.11 trillion, according to the Financial State of the Union 2021 published by Truth in Accounting.

In order to pay off all of Uncle Sam’s liabilities, every taxpayer in the US would have to write a check for $796,000.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have it.

The federal government has $5.95 trillion in assets and $129.06 trillion in liabilities. If it were a private company, the US government would be bankrupt.

Here’s a breakdown of Uncle Sam’s liabilities in broad categories.

  • Medicare benefits – $55.12 trillion
  • Social Security obligations – $41.2 trillion
  • Publicly held debt – $21.08 trillion.
  • Military and civilian retirement benefits $9.41 trillion
  • Other liabilities – $2.25 trillion

According to Truth in Accounting’s analysis, the US government’s financial situation has deteriorated over the last year. Based on the latest available audited financial reports, its financial condition worsened by $9.84 trillion in 2020.

Interestingly, the Treasury Department only includes $175.30 billion of Social Security and Medicare liabilities on the federal balance sheet; according to government documents, recipients do not have the right to benefits beyond the benefits currently being paid and laws to reduce or stop future benefits can be passed at any time. Truth in Accounting assumes no changes in the current Social Security or Medicare schemes. This is a pretty safe assumption considering these programs are generally considered the “third rail” of politics. In other words, politicians dare not touch them.

Truth in Accounting’s conclusion feels a lot like an understatement.

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[…] US debt approaching $30 trillion, unfunded future liabilities are a multiple of that number.  This estimate is for another $130 trillion, but we’ve seen estimates double that number.  Either the US […]