The accounting profession has created a term for entities that are almost solvent, and can almost pay off their debts. The term is "insolvent."
It's dangerous to have entities for which the clock is running out. What we should aim for is the opposite: a social security system that's gradually accumulating assets, and can eventually use that to offload its risks (by, for example, paying a life insurance company to assume some of its obligations).
That way, 1) we know how much things cost, and 2) our problems are gradually getting solved. Now, we have the opposite situation.
It's dangerous to have entities for which the clock is running out. What we should aim for is the opposite: a social security system that's gradually accumulating assets, and can eventually use that to offload its risks (by, for example, paying a life insurance company to assume some of its obligations).
That way, 1) we know how much things cost, and 2) our problems are gradually getting solved. Now, we have the opposite situation.