SCUMBAGS :BSPost:

[url]http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/15/social.security.ap/index.html[/url]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Work till you're 69 before getting full Social Security benefits?

That's one possibility -- for Americans who retire two decades or more into the future -- as Republicans on a key Senate committee review suggestions for improving the program's solvency.

No decisions have been made yet, and it could be fall before the politically volatile Social Security issue reaches the floor of either the House or Senate, if then.

At the same time, an increase in the retirement age is one of the suggestions that Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, outlined last week for fellow Republicans on the panel, according to several officials. Officials said Grassley's suggestion for raising the retirement age would be phased in, possibly over two decades or more, depending on future demographic trends.

The Iowa Republican has also suggested steps to hold down benefits for future upper-income retirees. The officials who described his presentation did so on condition of anonymity, saying the discussions were confidential.

Under current law, the age for retiring with full Social Security benefits is 65 years and six months. It is rising gradually until it reaches 67 for individuals born in 1960 or later.

The GOP lawmakers on the committee are scheduled to meet again on Thursday to continue their work, hoping to agree on a plan that can unify Republicans and allow them to advance one of President Bush's key second-term priorities.

The issue has become intensely contentious in Congress, with public polls indicating tepid support for Bush's call to allow younger workers to create voluntary personal accounts funded out of their Social Security payroll taxes. Democrats accuse the White House of seeking to privatize the depression-era program, while supporters of the accounts argue they are needed to modernize it.

"The easy path is to do nothing. That's the easy political path," Bush said Tuesday in State College, Pennsylvaia, where he appeared before a young audience drawn from rural families.

"The tough path is to come together and get something done. But let me tell you something. By doing nothing, you're about to hear that we will have done a disservice to a younger group of Americans coming up," he told a convention of the Pennsylvania FFA, formerly known as the Future Farmers of America.

For their part, Democrats criticized Bush anew, saying his proposal would privatize Social Security while cutting benefits.

"Rural Americans tend to be older and more likely to depend on Social Security," Reps. Stephanie Herseth, D-South Dakota, and Bob Etheridge, D-North Carolina, said in a joint statement. They head the Democratic House Rural Working Group.

The president has called for a bill to create permanent solvency for the program, and he also wants the bill to give younger workers the option of establishing a personal retirement account financed from a portion of their payroll taxes.

Under current predictions, Social Security will begin to pay out more in benefits than it receives in tax receipts in 2017, and the trust funds will be depleted in 2041. At that point, benefits would be cut to adjust for the reduction in available funds.

Along with curbs in benefits or increases in taxes, raising the retirement age is one of three general approaches that lawmakers can consider as they try to improve the solvency of Social

Re: retirement age

yup, shitty thing to even think of.

but this makes me think that SS really does need to be revamped. bush didnt have the best idea about it, but i think he was at least trying. maybe we need more to try to figure it out. i would love the private account, but too many uneducated people in america would wipe themselves clean.

either way, no one here is ever gonna see it. we are all too young. this is the primary reason i asked out of w-2 status and asked for shares of the firm. lets me take a draw vs taking payroll.

Re: retirement age

SSI will be around when I am going to retire. However, like Sightless, I wont be getting it.

However, anyone who tells you that this program is a disaster, or is going to go bankrupt is full of shit.

In fact, if the cap was raised from $90,000 to $140,000, the whole thing would be fixed.

Re: retirement age

:shock:

No Way! The same thing is happening here man...raising it to 67 years! In fact, I believe that plan is almost pished though already...I'm outta here for good when I get my diploma...

Re: retirement age

eye, it most definetly will run out. with inflation standing as it has over the last 40 years, the amount taken out with COLA's is far exceeding the amount being put in. and the difference in yearly percentages is growing as well. worst case scenario is about 22 years, but that is only possible if we dont increase the tax that funds it AND people stop paying in. best case scencario (outside of revamping) is more like 58-64 years, if they keep things proportional to how it should have been set up. they need to prorate it as well where you put less in towards retirement age and a lot more as we are younger.

the gov't did the same thing with the alternative minimum tax, they never even bothered to account for inflation and tax brackets. the brackets themselves change from year to year, but these antiquated laws never do. they are based on flat rates rather than %'s. so when people were making on average about 50k-60k a year the tax made sense at 36k. (where the penalty tax kicked in), but now the average income in NY is more like 90-115k a year but the penalty kicks in at 36k still. (the penalty rate is a guess, i dont know what it was in 1940's when it was instituted.

one more thing.

dont ever read about things like this on CNN or in the paper. they all take sides with the parties based on the issue. go to the [url]www.aicpa.org[/url] one of the state societies websites. try to use trade mags for CPA's , estate planners, lawyers, and financeers. they are very much neutral and go entirely in depth in terms of research and keeping dialougue with people like me and toasty rather than kerry or bush. they throw all the opinions of the people who deal with the laws affects on a day to day basis. :P

say goodbye to your money folks.. your parents earned it. :D

Re: retirement age

make your own money people, don't rely on the government to give you any back, wether you deserve it or not.

^ Exactly. Save your own money for retirement. Personally I think none of us here will get SS anyways. Invenst your money into a 401k or a ira.

Re: retirement age

the whole problem is the baby boomer generation didnt have nearly as many kids as their parents, thus there arent enough young people coming up in the workforce to cover the amount of money required to pay benefits to the massive amount of people retiring. they've know this was gonna happen for quite awhile.

Re: retirement age

[quote=Jenks]make your own money people, don't rely on the government to give you any back, wether you deserve it or not.[/quote]

Maybe it is different in the USA,

In the UK we have to pay a National Insurance, it;s this payment and for the amount of years you pay it that decides the amount of pension you get.

Hence 40 years of paying it, gives you a full pension. I will be very pissed off if I have paid this for 40 years then the goverment turms round and says I cannot have it.
I'm happy to provide for myself in retirement, but why should I have to pay twice? One public pension payment and one private?