No, there aren’t 150 year old people collecting social security. First, there is no evidence to back up the claim (like most things with this Orwellian organization) however it’s just that his tech bro team have never encountered COBOL.
Before we get into that shit show, some data: There was an audit in 2023 by the SSA Inspector General about number holders over the age of 100 with no record of death on file. They identified just shy of 19 million. They were able to find death certificates and records for a couple million, but most couldn’t be verified. But here’s the important part that Musk is omitting: Of the 19 million over the age of 100 without a verified death record, only 44,000 number holder accounts were actually drawing social security payments. That means only 44k people aged 100+ still collecting SS. And with estimates from census data showing there are roughly 100k centenarians in the US, presently this is a more logical situation. But, why inject logic when you can push false information? 2023 Audit: https://oig.ssa.gov/assets/uploads/a-06-21-51022.pdf
Anyway, moving on .. here’s why they have no clue about an programming language written in the 60s (aside from be 19 years old).
Because COBOL does not have a date type, some implementations rely instead on a system whereby all dates are coded to a reference point. The most commonly used is May 20, 1875, as this was the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the “Convention du Mètre.” These systems default to the reference point when a birth date is missing or incomplete, meaning all of those entries in 2025 would show an age of 150.
Musk could also have simply looked up the SSA’s own website, which explains that since September 2015 the agency has automatically stopped benefit payments when anyone reaches the age of 115.. but instead he doubled down.
Musk posted another screenshot suggesting 10 million people over the age of 120 were collecting benefits. If you look the screenshot showed 400,000,000 people on SS.
That is five times more than the amount that actually do. The fact that the Social Security system contains millions of entries from people who are dead is likely distinct from a potential COBOL-caused error, and also not news. A report written by the SSA’s inspector general in 2023 found that 98 percent of those aged 100 or older in the Social Security databases are not in receipt of any benefits. The report added that the database would not be updated because it would cost too much money to do so.
The real problem with Musk is something I’ve seen time and time again in technology. Those who claim to know everything likely know nothing. They just need to be the smartest one in the room.
By way of Wired