Raising the retirement age could cause SS to fail in its own game. SS defenders claims that the program is so successful because it has reduced poverty among the elderly from 68% to 8%. Let's for a minute assume that we all GenXer live past 70, and the elegibility age were raised to 70, how many of us would remain in the workforce until age 70? I would suggest, not many. Perhaps because of illness or plain old burn-out. What do we do in the interim? Poverty now will be among the middle aged people.
Raising the elegibility age is unrealistic and should be turned down as unequivocably as the government's ability to invest SS funds in the private markets. Only a handful of lucky people will get to age 70, and thus receive benefits, and only at the expense of others. The government, in this way, is trying more and more to cling to this lottery game we call Social Security. The lucky ones will get the promised benefits, and SS will be able to say that it keeps poverty among the elderly down. But, I ask, at the expense of what? Your freedom, your security, and your money! Say NO to raising the retirement age, it amounts to higher taxes and presents higher risks than personal investment in the markets. Are you willing to bet that you'll live past age 70? If so, how much longer will you receive benefits? Will the received benefits compensate you for 50 years of service to the economy (assume you started working at age 21 and retired at age 70)? If not, where will the rest of the money go?
