The Social Security Retirement Age: Don't Raise Me, Bro!

[Yeggo]

The GOP may think that this month's midterms were an endorsement of their deficit reduction policies, but more data from an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that the American people don't want Congress to consider raising the Social Security retirement age as part of a deficit reduction plan, even if it's gradually phased in over the next SIXTY YEARS.

When there's that little appetite for such a modest proposal related to social security, the GOP's going to have trouble with some of their more radical ideas when it comes to the program.

http://conversation101.squarespace.com/social-security/2010/11/20/social-security-retirement-age-dont-raise-me-bro.html

[Xipe Totec]

1. Why does Social Security have anything to do with the deficit? nt

[rfranklin]

2. It doesn't, and in fact, our social security payments have...

kept the kleptocracy going since the Reagan days.

[DesertFlower]

3. the only cost would be for the personnel

who handle the fund and get our checks out.

[customerserviceguy]

8. The money's been borrowed (stolen) long before that

Social Security has long been a slush fund to use creative accounting on, to pay for pet projects, wars, and tax cuts for the rich.

[Warpy]

5. NOTHING

but that doesn't stop them from LYING about it. All they can think of is diverting that money to themselves and their wealthy patrons in one form or another, and that means stiffing the American people.

Anyone who talks about raising the retirement age for ditch diggers because office managers are living longer is a criminal.

[DURHAM D]

4. Looks like you are using DU to promote your own blog.

Your multiple posts in various categories gave you way. Please stop it Bro.

[Xipe Totec]

6. If you have a problem, you should take it up with the mods

Personally, I think the message is consistent with DU's philosophy, so I have no quarrel with it.

[Yeggo]

7. Really, that's poor form?

Doesn't everyone use DU to promote their ideas? Isn't that the point?

[DURHAM D]

9. No and No

[hansberrym]

10. It is all smoke and mirrors, and worse.

The proposed fixes of the commission are meant obscure the underlying problem that the rate of return of SS is falling compared to earlier generations. It should not matter when someone decides to retire because the actuaries can calculate the the appropriate monthly payment. Sure the monthly payment would be less for someone born in a certain year who decides to retire at 62 versus someone born in the same year who decides to retire at age 67 or 70, but if the actuaries are doing their job, the group of people within each cohort who retires at 62 will get same overall rate of return compared to others of their cohort. (cohort defined as those people born in a certain year) By raising the minimum retirement age the government is betting that many more will die before collecting anything, this will allow the government to maintain rates of return for those who live to collect benefits, while acting to hide the fact that rates of return for each cohort is dropping.

The other means of hiding the drop off in rates of return for each succesive cohort is to increase the disparity based on income in rates of return within a cohort by lifting the income cap on taxation. What this does is drastically reduce the rate of return for those with higher incomes in order to maintain the rate of return for most other members of that cohort.


The game will be to convince most people who reach retirement age that they are getting nearly the same deal compared to earlier retirees. But it will be a lie! To the commission, the complaints of those at the top of the income scale will count for little more than the complaints of the dead(those who worked a lifetime and paid into the system but died before collecting anything in return). The idea that we can have our bread by the sweat of another's brow was rejected a century and a half ago, but now we are being lead backwards in a desparate attempt to hide the mismanagement of the SS system.

[Crazy Dave]

11. Having one of the worst health care systems in the world should help too

People won't be "living longer" 5 - 10 years from now.