Social Security will be around when our generation retires, only with less money for the government to hand out.

Associate economics professor Carl Campbell said Social Security will not have as many benefits for people down the road.

“There won’t be as much money in Social Security trust funds causing reduced benefits for people who retire,” Campbell said.

Campbell said he sees this happening in about 30 years.

“2040 is about when the money in trust funds won’t be as great,” he said.

Despite there not being as much money, Campbell said people will still be able to receive benefits from Social Security when they retire.

“There will still be people paying Social Security taxes and they will receive money when they retire, just not as much as past generations have,” he said.

Junior meteorology major Bryan Hartzell said he is doubtful about Social Security in the future.

“I think there’s probably not going to be any money left by the time I retire,” Hartzell said.

Freshman biology major Crystal Macario said she is worried about her future.

“I’m worried when I retire that I’m not going to have enough money to support myself,” Macario said.

Hartzell said he thinks there’s nothing that can be done to prevent this.

“I don’t think there will be anything the government can even do to stop money from running out,” he said.

Campbell said he does not see this to be the case.

“The government will most likely choose between the options of reducing benefits or raising Social Security taxes to ensure there will be money for future generations,” Campbell said.

He believes the retirement age may go up as a result of these Social Security problems.

“The current age for people to retire now is 66,” he said. “For people who were born after 1960 or later will find themselves retiring at ages 67 or 68.”

Campbell said when people retire they are going to have to rely on other benefits.

“People can’t just rely on social security for retirement,” he said. “They’ll have to also rely on their 401(k) plans and their pensions.”