Clinton's remarks referring to "the looming fiscal crisis in Social Security" were based on 1997 projections by the Social Security board of trustees. At the time, the trustees projected that the program would be unable to pay promised benefits in full beginning in 2029. But the trustees' most recent projections extend that date to 2042, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the trust fund will remain solvent until 2052.

When I left office, there was enough money to keep Social Security going till 2053...through half the life of the baby boomers. I don't know what the latest numbers are going to show but they won't be good. ... So, what's our option? If you don't like privatizing Social Security and I don't like it very much, but you want to do something to try to increase the rate of return, what are your options? Well one thing you could do is to give people one or two percent of the payroll tax, with the same options that Federal employees have with their retirement accounts; where you have three mutual funds that almost always perform as well or better than the market and a fourth option to buy government bonds, so you get the guaranteed social security return and a hundred percent safety just like you have with Social Security.