RE: Raising the Retirement Age

[National Dialogue Moderator <moderator>]

Whether or not to raise the retirement age as a part of reforming
Social Security has become a political hot button in Washington
and across the country.  Life expectancy is certainly higher than
it was in 1940 and people are living longer and healthier lives --
good news!

There are several ideas currently on the table which allow us to
cap the retirement age at 67.  One option to consider is to eliminate
or accelerate the hiatus on raising the retirement age so that by
2011 the retirement age will be 67.  By combining a number of
creative ideas, such as raising the wage base to $100,000 and
adjusting COLAs, we generate enough income to the system to maintain
promised benefits as well as provide for the future solvency of
the system.

Low income workers with manual intensive jobs are of particular
concern when addressing this issue.  Low income workers in particular
rely on Social Security as the backbone of retirement security and
tend to have lower life expectancies.  We need to take special care
to both strengthen the essential safety net and divert, on a
progressive scale, a portion of  payroll taxes into personal
retirement accounts in order to allow for a lifetime of savings.

Sam Beard