It Is Past Time To Raise The SS And Medicare Eligibility Ages

[g5000]

Just for ease of writing purposes, I am henceforth going to call the Social Security and Medicare eligibility age the "retirement age".

In 1982, a very cowardly Congress raised the retirement age from 65 to 67. I call them cowardly because the 67 retirement age would not take full effect until 40 years in the future, after most of them were dead. They did not raise the retirement age immediately because they did not want to piss off the voters, and the 20 year olds who would be affected didn't vote in large numbers.

But consider the following facts.

1) In 1935, when Social Security was enacted, the average life expectancy was 60.

2) In 1935, only 5.4 percent of the US population was over the age of 65. Social Security was intended to support those who lived past the average. It was not an "entitlement" for everyone. It was INSURANCE.

3) In 1965, when Medicare was added to the entitlement package, only 9 percent of the US population was over the age of 65. Remember that 9 percent figure.

4) Today, around 15 percent of the US population is over the age of 65.


What this means is that we have an unsustainable trend of a greater and greater proportion of Americans being supported by a smaller and smaller proportion of Americans.

Take a look at this: Social Security History

In 1940, there were 159.4 workers for every Social Security recipient.

By 1960, there were 5.1 workers for every Social Security recipient.

Today, there are only 2.8 workers for every Social Security recipient.

And this trend is just going to get worse.

More in the next post.

 

[g5000]

So back to 1982.

The life expectancy at birth in 1982 was 74.36 years. 70.8 years for men, 78.1 years for women.

Today, the life expectancy at birth is 78.69 years. 76.3 for men, 81.2 for women.


Congress only added TWO years to the retirement age, yet we are living more than FOUR years longer now.


It is time to apply some common sense. We are LIVING longer, we should be WORKING longer.

There simply is no comeback to counter that logical, common sense argument.

We need to raise the retirement age to 70, immediately, and index it to 9 percent of the population going forward.

This would go a long, long way toward balancing the federal budget.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Just for ease of writing purposes, I am henceforth going to call the Social Security and Medicare eligibility age the "retirement age".

In 1982, a very cowardly Congress raised the retirement age from 65 to 67. I call them cowardly because the 67 retirement age would not take full effect until 40 years in the future, after most of them were dead. They did not raise the retirement age immediately because they did not want to piss off the voters.

But consider the following facts.

1) In 1935, when Social Security was enacted, the average life expectancy was 60.

2) In 1935, only 5.4 percent of the US population was over the age of 65. Social Security was intended to support those who lived past the average. It was not an "entitlement" for everyone. It was INSURANCE.

3) In 1965, when Medicare was added to the entitlement package, only 9 percent of the US population was over the age of 65. Remember that 9 percent figure.

4) Today, around 15 percent of the US population is over the age of 65.


What this means is that we have an unsustainable trend of a greater and greater proportion of Americans being supported by a smaller and smaller proportion of Americans.

Take a look at this: Social Security History

In 1940, there were 159.4 workers for every Social Security recipient.

By 1960, there were 5.1 workers for every Social Security recipient.

Today, there are only 2.8 workers for every Social Security recipient.

And this trend is just going to get worse.

More in the next post.

Medicare for all! It's Free!!

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Invest the SocSec Trust Fund in US Equities

 

[Oddball]

It's past time to abolish both those idiotic Ponzi schemes.

 

[Oddball]

Invest the SocSec Trust Fund in US Equities

I'd rather invest "my share" in pocket aces....Higher probability of a ROI.

 

[g5000]

Invest the SocSec Trust Fund in US Equities

I'd rather invest "my share" in pocket aces....Higher probability of a ROI.

The problem is that people like you would invest in get-rich-quick scams like Trump University courses, and then march on Washington to support you after you were wiped out.

 

[g5000]

Between 1960 and 1995, the official poverty rate of those aged 65 and above fell from 35 percent to 10 percent, and research has documented similarly steep declines dating back to at least 1939. While poverty was once far more prevalent among the elderly than among other age groups, today's elderly have a poverty rate similar to that of working-age adults and much lower than that of children.

Social Security is often mentioned as a likely contributor to the decline in elderly poverty. Enacted in 1935, the Social Security system experienced rapid benefit growth in the post-WWII era. In fact, there is a striking association between the rise in Social Security expenditures per capita and the decline in elderly poverty

Social Security and Elderly Poverty

Social Security and the Evolution of Elderly Poverty

 

[LordBrownTrout]

It's time to offer everyone an opportunity to opt in or out.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Just for ease of writing purposes, I am henceforth going to call the Social Security and Medicare eligibility age the "retirement age".

In 1982, a very cowardly Congress raised the retirement age from 65 to 67. I call them cowardly because the 67 retirement age would not take full effect until 40 years in the future, after most of them were dead. They did not raise the retirement age immediately because they did not want to piss off the voters, and the 20 year olds who would be affected didn't vote in large numbers.

But consider the following facts.

1) In 1935, when Social Security was enacted, the average life expectancy was 60.

2) In 1935, only 5.4 percent of the US population was over the age of 65. Social Security was intended to support those who lived past the average. It was not an "entitlement" for everyone. It was INSURANCE.

3) In 1965, when Medicare was added to the entitlement package, only 9 percent of the US population was over the age of 65. Remember that 9 percent figure.

4) Today, around 15 percent of the US population is over the age of 65.


What this means is that we have an unsustainable trend of a greater and greater proportion of Americans being supported by a smaller and smaller proportion of Americans.

Take a look at this: Social Security History

In 1940, there were 159.4 workers for every Social Security recipient.

By 1960, there were 5.1 workers for every Social Security recipient.

Today, there are only 2.8 workers for every Social Security recipient.

And this trend is just going to get worse.

More in the next post.

I'm down, if the caps are eliminated as well. Most people will already have to work until they drop dead.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

Invest the SocSec Trust Fund in US Equities

I'd rather invest "my share" in pocket aces....Higher probability of a ROI.

The problem is that people like you would invest in get-rich-quick scams like Trump University courses, and then march on Washington to support you after you were wiped out.

No, I could easily take that money and make it earn more than the small govt pittance. Why are you against people making their own choices? You claim to be for freedom.

 

[g5000]

Invest the SocSec Trust Fund in US Equities

I'd rather invest "my share" in pocket aces....Higher probability of a ROI.

The problem is that people like you would invest in get-rich-quick scams like Trump University courses, and then march on Washington to support you after you were wiped out.

No, I could easily take that money and make it earn more than the small govt pittance. Why are you against people making their own choices? You claim to be for freedom.

So you prefer 35 percent poverty among the elderly as opposed to the current 9 percent?

 

[Penelope]

is anyone forcing you to retire, no, look at the old codgers in the legislature.

Tell that to the sheet metal workers , plumbers, carpenters, roofers, drywallers, nurses, nursing aides etc. who actually use their bodies for work. Waitresses, firemen, must I go on??

So easy to say that to someone who sits on their butt all day and walks for lunchtime and works out at the gym 3 nights a week.

 

[Oddball]

[
The problem is that people like you would invest in get-rich-quick scams like Trump University courses, and then march on Washington to support you after you were wiped out.

The problem with fuckwits like you is that you believe politicians and bureaucrats -who have ZERO to lose by wasting money- will make any better decisions than any individual can...

Pound sand up your ass, elitist scum.

 

[Oddball]

Invest the SocSec Trust Fund in US Equities

I'd rather invest "my share" in pocket aces....Higher probability of a ROI.

The problem is that people like you would invest in get-rich-quick scams like Trump University courses, and then march on Washington to support you after you were wiped out.

No, I could easily take that money and make it earn more than the small govt pittance. Why are you against people making their own choices? You claim to be for freedom.

He's just another statist/elitist flunky, trying desperately to come off as "independent".

 

[Harry Dresden]

is anyone forcing you to retire, no, look at the old codgers in the legislature.

Tell that to the sheet metal workers , plumbers, carpenters, roofers, drywallers, nurses, nursing aides etc. who actually use their bodies for work. Waitresses, firemen, must I go on??

So easy to say that to someone who sits on their butt all day and walks for lunchtime and works out at the gym 3 nights a week.

there was a discussion on this very thing a month or so ago.....the inside workers just could not grasp how some physical jobs on the outside take a toll on the body and those people would have a rough time working past 65 let alone to get to 70.....some of their answers to the age and jobs situation were quit amazing....

 

[EasyPeasy]

Invest the SocSec Trust Fund in US Equities

I'd rather invest "my share" in pocket aces....Higher probability of a ROI.

The problem is that people like you would invest in get-rich-quick scams like Trump University courses, and then march on Washington to support you after you were wiped out.

No, I could easily take that money and make it earn more than the small govt pittance. Why are you against people making their own choices? You claim to be for freedom.

G's a typical progressive, force people onto a retirement system, force them to work until death and never collect a nickel. They're the worst.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

Just for ease of writing purposes, I am henceforth going to call the Social Security and Medicare eligibility age the "retirement age".

In 1982, a very cowardly Congress raised the retirement age from 65 to 67. I call them cowardly because the 67 retirement age would not take full effect until 40 years in the future, after most of them were dead. They did not raise the retirement age immediately because they did not want to piss off the voters, and the 20 year olds who would be affected didn't vote in large numbers.

But consider the following facts.

1) In 1935, when Social Security was enacted, the average life expectancy was 60.

2) In 1935, only 5.4 percent of the US population was over the age of 65. Social Security was intended to support those who lived past the average. It was not an "entitlement" for everyone. It was INSURANCE.

3) In 1965, when Medicare was added to the entitlement package, only 9 percent of the US population was over the age of 65. Remember that 9 percent figure.

4) Today, around 15 percent of the US population is over the age of 65.


What this means is that we have an unsustainable trend of a greater and greater proportion of Americans being supported by a smaller and smaller proportion of Americans.

Take a look at this: Social Security History

In 1940, there were 159.4 workers for every Social Security recipient.

By 1960, there were 5.1 workers for every Social Security recipient.

Today, there are only 2.8 workers for every Social Security recipient.

And this trend is just going to get worse.

More in the next post.

End welfare. Make more workers.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

End welfare. Make more workers.

Most people on welfare capable of working already work. They simply don't get paid enough to get by. Come on man, educate yourself.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

Invest the SocSec Trust Fund in US Equities

I'd rather invest "my share" in pocket aces....Higher probability of a ROI.

The problem is that people like you would invest in get-rich-quick scams like Trump University courses, and then march on Washington to support you after you were wiped out.

No, I could easily take that money and make it earn more than the small govt pittance. Why are you against people making their own choices? You claim to be for freedom.

So you prefer 35 percent poverty among the elderly as opposed to the current 9 percent?

That doesn't tell me anything other than the govt is making billions on interest off our own money .