On the February 24 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country, nationally syndicated conservative radio host Janet Parshall stated: “I have adult kids who are going to be paying in [to the Social Security system] right now. And, by 2018, it's not going to be there.”

In fact, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted (here, here, and here, for example), the Social Security trustees have projected that the system as it currently stands will be able to pay all promised benefits for another 37 years-- until 2042. Following 2042, the system is projected to be able to pay 73 percent of currently scheduled benefits and 68 percent of benefits in 2078. According to 2004 projections by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the trust fund will be able to pay all promised benefits until 2052, 81 percent of currently scheduled benefits in 2053, and 71 percent in 2100.

The only significance of the date Parshall mentions -- 2018 -- is that it marks the year in which the trustees project that Social Security benefit payouts will begin to exceed payroll tax revenues. At that point, the trustees project that the program will have to begin tapping into the trust fund to meet benefit obligations. But the system will not be insolvent.

According to an article in American Outlook, the quarterly magazine of the conservative Hudson Institute, Janet Parshall's America “reaches 3.5 million listeners five days a week.” The show is syndicated by Salem Radio Network.