150-year-olds are not receiving Social Security payments – Marketplace

Elon Musk, the de facto leader Government Efficiency BureauTens of millions over 100 years old Marked as “living” With the US Social Security System.

This week he tweeted a spreadsheet showing how many people in the system are in the bracket for each age. Over 1.3 million People are marked between the ages of 150 and 159, with almost 2,800 people listed as over 200.

“Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires gathering Social Security,” Musk tweeted, hinting that the Social Security Administration may still be distributing benefits checks to these people. Masu.

President Donald Trump also expressed concern to people You are receiving “fraudulent” payments.

“If you remove these millions of people from Social Security, then all of a sudden we have very strong social security with people who are 80, 70 and 90, but not 200.” Trump said.

However, data from the Social Security Agency website shows It only has around 89,000 people over the age of 99. You are paid based on your revenue. And there is Only 100,000 people with an estimated 108,000 According to UN data, the oldest known people who lived in the United States were living there. Until 122 years old.

Eric Kinson, an emeritus professor of social work at Syracuse University and a social security expert, said the idea that millions and 100 people benefited was “absurd.”

“This is part of an organized attack to undermine social security,” Kingson said.

Michelle King, deputy SSA I recently left the agency Doge's attempt to access Social Security recipient information, and Dozens of Probation SSA Employees Job reassignment is provided.

Social Security has records of millions of people, but that doesn't mean they're actually paid, says Social Security, who served as deputy director of the George W. Bush National Economic Council. and Charles Brahaus, former public trustee of Medicare, said.

“As many people born over 150 years ago, social security lacks information about death, and so is there a lack of information about people who lived long ago involved. , there are a lot of people,” Blahous said.

SSA also says there is a special code to stop payments going People over 115.

Wired Magazine reported the number of people in the 150-year-old age group It may be related to programming languages It is used by SSA, known as COBOL, or a popular business-oriented language. The 65-year-old system can still be found in government agencies, businesses and financial institutions.

Essentially, if the date of birth is missing or incomplete, COBOL defaults to the reference point. The most common is May 20, 1875, when countries around the world Attended the Convention on Metric Standards. There were 150 people born in 1875 in 2025, so that's why entries with incomplete birth dates and incomplete births default to that age.

Another explanation for some 100 people in the book: Social Security benefits Provided to qualified widows and widowsLawrence Kotorikov, a professor of economics at Boston University, is someone who has to wait until they reach a certain age to receive payment.

There is a big age gap between the couple, and if one now-deceased partner is born more than 100 years ago, the SSA needs to maintain information about that deceased person, Kotrikov said.

However, SSA makes a mistake. According to reports from the institution, between 2015 and 2022, the institution was It sent about $72 billion Inappropriate payments were primarily overpayments. That amounts to around $9 billion a year.

It may sound like a lot of money, but it's a very small amount It benefits the $1.5 trillion Social Security Agency Payment was made last year, said Richard Himalfab, a professor of political science at Hofstra University.

He noted that $9 billion is less than 1% of spending. It is also a small portion of the federal deficit last year. Over $1.8 trillion.

“If you want to save money, if you really want to reduce your deficit, you'll have to do more than find waste and fraud and abuse in Social Security,” Himelfarb said.