The Republican Party says it will maintain Social Security and Medicare entitlements without cutting benefits, but that’s a tall order.

Social Security benefits are adjusted to protect retirees against inflation, but not enough, according to some experts, advocacy groups and lawmakers.

The program pays $1.5 trillion a year and aids 70 million Americans. But it has its own budget and by law can’t create debt or widen deficits.

The Social Security program is on track to burn through its savings account by 2035 unless Congress changes the law before then. Social Security faced a similar funding crisis in the early 1980s.

Social Security has been known as “the third rail of American politics” since the early 1980s, with the idea that touching the program can prove deadly to a politician’s career.

Freeze your credit, and don’t be afraid to ask for help or use free, online resources, experts say.

Monday’s report on the system’s “go-broke” date raises questions about how Social Security is funded.

More than 60% of people over 50 are worried they won’t have enough money to live on in retirement, which is more than last year, according to a recent survey from AARP.

These programs are the biggest part of the budget, and cuts to them feel personal, one expert says. Reducing them has been tough historically.

Larry Fink, head of the largest money manager in the world, suggested in an investor letter that the retirement age should be higher because of longer life expectancies. But is that realistic?