How Much Money Do We Owe?

This data from the United States Treasury illustrates our nation’s total commitments – even if no new participants ever enroll in Medicare or Social Security. This amount represents $14.124 trillion in balance-sheet liabilities plus $52.145 trillion in net present value of the scheduled benefits (before the passage of health-care legislation) over the next 75 years to Social Security and Medicare.

This chart shows that when all of our liabilities are examined, it is clear that the gargantuan debt held by the public, estimated by the Office of Management and Budget to be 60 percent of GDP, is less than one-sixth of all that we owe.

You can read more on our precarious net financial position here.