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The release of the Trustees Reports for Social Security and Medicare earlier this week show that, for many people, to the ability to plan for retirement will depend on the federal government. The two programs’ trust funds are slated to run out of money by 2035 and 2026, respectively, requiring significant benefit cuts or tax increases. By delaying action, policymakers are making it more difficult for households to plan for their own future.

Social Security, for example, is a major part of both the government’s long-term fiscal problem and individuals’ financial security. Once the trust fund runs out, the Social Security program will have to cut benefits by almost a quarter unless legislators actively make changes. Social Security also poses perhaps the largest challenges for retirement planners since the program is the cornerstone of most older households’ retirement plans: one-third of retirees receive more than 90% of their income from Social Security, and two-thirds rely on Social Security for at least half of their income. Uncertainty surrounding Medicare poses another threat to Americans’ retirement. Its reserves are scheduled to be depleted in just six years—putting Congress in the same bind of either reducing seniors’ benefits or finding the money elsewhere.

Another challenge for retirees: Medicaid. Many people don’t realize that Medicaid, not private insurers, is the nation’s largest provider of long-term care. But Medicaid spending was on the chopping block in the President’s most recent budget, and it is a frequent target for some conservative policymakers seeking to hold down spending. Cuts in Medicaid could prove disastrous for low-income retirees who rely on the program for nursing home care. They would also inject marked uncertainty for middle-income retirees who know they may someday need to depend on the program if they outlive their assets.

Our uncertain tax code plays a role, too. Politicians love to propose new cuts, incentives, or credits, but these changes make it difficult to know how best to save for the long-term. Americans have more than $16 trillion stockpiled in accounts like 401(K)s and IRAs. In traditional versions of these accounts, contributions are tax-deductible, but withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income, so uncertainty about future income tax rates creates a formidable risk. Every time Congress changes tax rates, it changes the amount of income retirees can expect to be able to consume from traditional accounts. Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s—which don’t allow deductions for contributions but don’t tax withdrawals—offer one way to diversify this risk, but also further complicate savers’ choices. The 2017 tax overhaul exacerbated policy-based uncertainty by introducing several temporary provisions. And few policymakers of either party have shown real interest in controlling deficits, which introduces yet more uncertainty into our fiscal future.

Traditionally, there are two strategies for dealing with increased risk. The first is to buy insurance, but markets for long-term care and work-based retiree health insurance have been on the decline for years, and they are generally only an option for those with appreciable assets anyway. The second strategy, which is to save more—that is, to reduce one’s living standards and thus self-insure against future risk—is fine in theory, but often less achievable for people earning the median income of about $48,000 a year.

Policymakers’ refusal to shore up Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, combined with profligate spending and fluid tax policies, is creating uncertainty and making it difficult for investors and savers to know how to plan. Policymakers need to address our fiscal shortfalls not only to keep the American economy strong, but so each of us can make a solid plan for retirement.

William Gale is codirector, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, and author of Fiscal Therapy: Curing America’s Debt Addiction and Investing in the Future (Oxford 2019). Benjamin Harris is the executive director of the Kellogg School of Management’s Public-Private Interface and was the chief economist to Vice President Joe Biden.