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The U.S. debt is $19.9 trillion. Most headlines focus on how much the United States owes China, which is one of the largest foreign owners. What many people don’t know is that the Social Security Trust Fund, aka your retirement money, owns most of the national debt. How does that work, and what does it mean?

Intragovernmental Holdings. This is the federal debt owed to 230 other federal agencies. It totals $5.554 trillion, almost 30 percent of the debt. Why would the government owe money to itself? Some agencies, like the Social Security Trust Fund, take in more revenue from taxes than they need. Rather than stick this cash under a giant mattress, they buy U.S. Treasurys with it.

Social Security (Social Security Trust Fund and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund) - $2.801 trillion
Office of Personnel Management Retirement - $888 billion
Military Retirement Fund - $670 billion
Medicare (Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund) - $294 billion
All other retirement funds - $304 billion
Cash on hand to fund federal government operations - $580 billion.

Debt Held by the Public. This is the rest of the national debt, totaling $14.403 trillion. Foreign governments and investors hold nearly half of the nation's public debt. One-fourth is held by other governmental entities. These include the Federal Reserve, as well as state and local governments. Fifteen percent is held by mutual funds, private pension funds, savings bonds or individual Treasury notes. The remaining 10 percent is owned by businesses, like banks and insurance companies, and an assortment of trusts, companies, and investors. Here's the breakdown:

Foreign - $6.281 trillion
Federal Reserve - $2.463 trillion
Mutual funds - $1.379 trillion
State and local government, including their pension funds - $874 billion
Private pension funds - $544 billion
Banks - $570 billion
Insurance companies - $304 billion
U.S. savings bonds - $169 billion

As you can see, if you add up the debt held by Social Security and all the retirement and pension funds, nearly half of the U.S. Treasury debt is held in trust for your retirement. If the United States defaults on its debt, foreign investors would be angry, but current and future retirees would be hurt the most.