FA_Q2
Gold Member
That is the real problem with Medicare and SS - you are not really supposed to collect it.When Social Security was enacted, the average American lifespan was 61.7 years of age. Social Security was for people who lived beyond the mean.
At that time, when SS was enacted, only 5.4% of the population was over the age of 65.
It was not intended for everyone to collect. If you were a blue collar laborer busting your ass pouring concrete for a federal dam project, you probably were not going to live long enough to collect.
In 1965, when Medicare was added to senior entitlements, the average lifespan was 70 years of age. At that time, 9.2% of the population was over the age of 65.
Today, the average life expectancy is 78.7 years, and the percentage of Americans over 65 is now at...drum roll please...
14.9%.
We are rapidly approaching a tripling of the original senior load.
This is an unsustainable trend. We either have to cut benefits, or increase the eligibility age.
And that is why you consistently hear me say we need to immediately raise the eligibility age for Medicare and SS to 70, and index it to 9 percent of the population going forward.
Looking at the numbers for 1965, you can see where I get the 9 percent figure.
Put simply, we are living decades longer than our ancestors, we should be working longer.
Life expectancy: Life Expectancy at Birth by Race and Sex, 1930–2010
Percent of population over 65 in 1930 and 1960 (see page 9): https://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p23-209.pdf
Percent of population over 65 in 2015: Population estimates, July 1, 2016, (V2016)