“On both sides of the aisle, we’re hearing support for existing retirees,” Horwitz says. “Because of the way things are going, though, one side or the other can’t solve this problem, these programs will have to be fixed with bipartisan support. Until there’s bipartisan support, one side will propose a solution and the other side will go on defense and oppose it.”

Time is of the essence for both programs. The Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds estimate that in 2034, Social Security will be unable to account for its budget deficits and at that time the program will pay approximately 75 percent of their expected benefit. The Trustees predict that the Medicare fund will run dry in 2030, leaving the program only able to pay 86 percent of its expected benefits.

Carbray says that the current partisan gridlock does not bode well for a reform of either program during the next administration.

“We have to be realistic to people and explain to them that some of the entitlements that they were promised, just like the pensions they have worked for, might not be there when they need them,” Carbray says. “You have to prepare for the fact that the government may not be able to meet the full obligations of what they’ve promised you. That’s a huge challenge for us in the advisor community.”

Sajdak believes that the program is likely to be shored up with increased taxes on higher earners and the full retirement age delayed further past 67 years old for younger workers.

Hellenbrand says that the winner of the next presidential election might not enact entitlement reforms, but could be an indicator of how public sentiment feels about the future of Social Security and Medicare, “if we see someone elected who is an idealist, who is staunch about not making changes, or who wants to make radical changes to the programs, we’re more likely to delay, delay, delay.”

Retirement advisors and investors should also pay close attention to tax policy ahead of an election.

“I’m always looking at how investment income is going to be treated, is it going to be taxed like ordinary income or capital gains,” Horwitz says. “Typically, it’s been the left that has proposed using taxes to raise money to fund their initiatives. That’s not always a bad thing for retirees, for example, additional taxes came in to support Medicare as a result of the Affordable Care Act.”