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QUINCY, ILL. (AP) -- In today's economic climate it's hard to think about saving money for the future, but new numbers show Social Security will run out of money by 2037.

Just when the bulk of baby boomers hit retirement age, projections show there just won't be enough money left, or new money coming in, to pay what the government has promised.

In Adams County, Illinois alone, there will be 16,660 people over the age of 65 by the year 2030.

That's a  jump from the census numbers in 2000 which showed 12,046 people over the age of 65 living in Adams County.

Decreasing social security funds could mean seniors staying in the workforce longer, and relying on personal investments to make ends meet.

And some say this warning bell will change the way individuals save for the future.

This year alone, Social Security is projected to collect $45 billion less in payroll taxes than it pays out in retirement, disability and survivor benefits, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.

That figure swells to $130 billion when a new one-year cut in payroll taxes is included, though Congress has promised to repay any lost revenue from the tax cut.

The massive retirement program has been feeling the effects of a struggling economy for several years.

The program first went into deficit last year — the first deficit since it was last overhauled in the 1980s.

But CBO said last year that Social Security would post surpluses for a few more years before permanently slipping into deficits in 2016.

The outlook, however, has grown bleaker as the nation struggles to recover from its worst economic crisis since Social Security was enacted during the Great Depression.

In the short term, Social Security is suffering from a weak economy that has payroll taxes lagging and applications for benefits rising.

In the long term, Social Security will be strained by the growing number of baby boomers retiring and applying for benefits.

For much of the past 30 years, Social Security has run big surpluses, which the government has borrowed to spend on other programs.

Now that Social Security is running deficits, the federal government will have to find money elsewhere to help pay for retirement, disability and survivor benefits.

"It means that Social Security is increasingly adding to our long-term fiscal problem, and it's happening now," said Eugene Steuerle, a former Treasury official who is now a fellow at the Urban Institute think tank.

The federal budget deficit will surge to a record $1.5 trillion flood of red ink this year, congressional budget experts estimated Wednesday, blaming the slow economic recovery and a tax cut law enacted in December.

"Social Security experts say news of permanent deficits should be a wake-up call for action.

Here are some population projections for states in our tri-state area:

Illinois Population Projections 

Missouri Population Projections 

Iowa Population Projections 

Join the conversation on Facebook and tell us what you think should be done to solve the Social Security problem.

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