We must face the reality that life expectancy has increased beyond the systems design. In 1935 (when SS was started) life expectancy for a man was 59.9, while the life expectancy for a woman was 63.9. Now, the life expectancy for a man is 73.2 and the life expectancy for a woman is 79.1. So, while age has increased by 13.3 years for males and 15.2 years for females, full retirement age has increased by 5 years during that time. Yes life expectancy has dropped in the US. I suggest you avoid using fentanyl and exercise regularly and you will be able to exploit the system to its utmost.
It's my duty to work until at least 80 to pay for the retirement, lifestyle and pensions of all the Boomers who voted to take away my free education, state owned utilities, a functioning healthcare system, affordable housing, eu membership, etc.
Hopefully I will die chained to a desk paying someones final salary pension and heating allowance for their 8 bed house while they're on a cruise somewhere.
Thought you were British and trying to be funny with your stupid little name. 🤏🥒🙈
I wasn't supporting any position on retirement age in my post. I was merely pointing out to the OP that the historical relationship between retirement age and life expectancy was a lot worse than it is now.
Quality of life for retirees is much worse now.
Real wages have been flat for many decades, meaning we get less for our work now, and that is reflected yet again with this SS benefit age increase. We will get less and its not because life expectancy is increasing. It's decreasing. It's because america is going broke.
Retiring 40 years ago, when inflation was much closer to Real Wages, was better than now. Money went much further and healthcare was not blown up so quality of retirement was better, even if life expectancy was shorter.
Here is the quality of life retirees face NOW, that wasn't as bad 30-40 years ago, when wages went much further to paying for life. Conditions now:
~ life expectancy is decreasing
~ 45,000 dead americans every year (lack adequate healthcare) As much as the Vietnam war, every year
~ 1/3 of america (112 million people) struggle to pay for healthcare and are "healthcare insecure"
~ america has the most newborn deaths of all industrialized nations
~ we have the worst healthcare outcomes among all industrialized nations
~ We lead the world in healthcare spending for inferior results
~ lead in homelessness among wealthy nations
~ lead in medical bankruptcies
~ lead in calories consumed
~ lead in prescription drug costs
~ lead in debt
This is not an environment millions of retirees can survive in. You are all set? Great. Don't speak for the millions of americans who are on the edge and not ready to face these conditions, which are getting worse.
Your original post was about the age to collect SS. My reply pointed out that today you can collect SS at an earlier age relative to life expectancy - that's all. Nothing to do with newborn deaths, homelessness, calories consumed or prescription drug costs.
For the record I think that the US is in a mess and that things were a lot better when workers were paid a decent wage and had unions to protect them. When the governments had enough tax revenue to support programs for the citizens. When governments weren't in the pockets of special interest groups and lobbyists. When governments actually worried about how things would be for future generations rather than just their base.
I would suggest you re read my last paragraph to understand my opinion on present day governments.
Governments never do long term planning and bad news is verboten as it will affect the next election cycle. So instead they will just muddle along as they always do, trading political barbs and claiming they have a miracle cure that will be explained after they are elected.
Social Security isn't a retirement account. It was supposed to be money to help you survive when you're no longer physically able to work so that old people aren't out dying on the streets. A typical 66 year old is still able to work. If you want to retire before you're physically unable to work then it's on you to save some money. Quit being a leach.
Although you can definitely say that you get robbed because people have to pay into it their whole life and then maybe get nothing back. And in that case, there shouldn't be any social security at all and you don't pay into it your whole life while working. But then there would be too many people who don't save a dime even though they received more into their bank accounts and we're back to the problem of old people having no money to live on. So that puts us in our current situation.
In general they increase the age because there isn't enough money coming in to pay out to all of the recipients if the age is too low. And I'd much rather increase the age than suddenly force the younger workers to cough up extra money to pay a healthy 66 year old that could be working to not do anything.
Real wages have been flat for many decades, meaning we get less for our work now, and that is reflected yet again with this SS benefit age increase. We will get less and its not because life expectancy is increasing. It's decreasing. It's because america is going broke.
Retiring 40 years ago, when inflation was much closer to Real Wages, was better than now. Money went much further and healthcare was not blown up so quality of retirement was better, even if life expectancy was shorter.
Here is the quality of life retirees face NOW, that wasn't as bad 30-40 years ago, when wages went much further to paying for life. Conditions now:
~ life expectancy is decreasing
~ 45,000 dead americans every year (lack adequate healthcare) As much as the Vietnam war, every year
~ 1/3 of america (112 million people) struggle to pay for healthcare and are "healthcare insecure"
~ america has the most newborn deaths of all industrialized nations
~ we have the worst healthcare outcomes among all industrialized nations
~ We lead the world in healthcare spending for inferior results
~ lead in homelessness among wealthy nations
~ lead in medical bankruptcies
~ lead in calories consumed
~ lead in prescription drug costs
~ lead in debt
This is not an environment millions of retirees can survive in. You are all set? Great. Don't speak for the millions of americans who are on the edge and not ready to face these conditions, which are getting worse.
Governments never do long term planning and bad news is verboten as it will affect the next election cycle. So instead they will just muddle along as they always do, trading political barbs and claiming they have a miracle cure that will be explained after they are elected.
They do long term planning, they just can't predict the future. They wrote this 40 years ago, which is long term, but with no clue as to life conditions for americans in 2023.
Social Security isn't a retirement account. It was supposed to be money to help you survive when you're no longer physically able to work so that old people aren't out dying on the streets. A typical 66 year old is still able to work. If you want to retire before you're physically unable to work then it's on you to save some money. Quit being a leach.
Although you can definitely say that you get robbed because people have to pay into it their whole life and then maybe get nothing back. And in that case, there shouldn't be any social security at all and you don't pay into it your whole life while working. But then there would be too many people who don't save a dime even though they received more into their bank accounts and we're back to the problem of old people having no money to live on. So that puts us in our current situation.
In general they increase the age because there isn't enough money coming in to pay out to all of the recipients if the age is too low. And I'd much rather increase the age than suddenly force the younger workers to cough up extra money to pay a healthy 66 year old that could be working to not do anything.
The pentagon budget is not a retirement account. It was supposed to be money to protect americans but its used by wealthy americans to get rich and grow income inequality.
americans pay $200 - 300 per month, for their entire working life, to the military in their federal taxes. That's $100k - 200k over a life time.
Quit being a leach and pay the pentagon budget yourself.
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