Certainly, Baby Boomers will have an impact on the future of Social Security. They're having an impact now.
Boomers are becoming eligible for government retirement benefits at a rate of 10,000 a day for the next 20 years. And, beginning in 2011, the first of the Baby Boomers will be turning 65 and becoming eligible for Medicaid benefits.
The sheer size of the aging Boomer population has budget watchers worried, which is why the president's new deficit commission -- formally known as he bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform -- has its eyes on Social Security in its list of things to fix.
Fed Chairman Benjamin Bernanke has expressed concern about the future of Social Security on a couple of occasions, most recently at the first meeting of the deficit commission in April.
The problem is that the number of retiring Boomers is outpacing the number of workers paying into the retirement system.
“The number of individuals expected to be working and paying taxes into the system is rising more slowly than the number of people projected to be receiving benefits,” Bernanke said in a statement to the commission.
“The projected fiscal imbalances associated with the Social Security system are notably smaller than those for federal health programs, but they still are significant and thus present an important challenge for policy.”
But AARP, the biggest lobby for Americans 50 and older, doesn't see the system as being in peril.
“Social Security is not in crisis, and AARP believes that Congress should strengthen the critical benefits of the program sooner rather than later to ensure adequacy, equity and solvency for years to come," AARP CEO A. Barry Rand said in a statement.
“We must accomplish these goals under the context of enhancing retirement security for today’s and tomorrow’s retirees, not under the framework of reducing a deficit that Social Security did not cause.”
The commission is expected to make recommendations to Congress by Dec. 1.
It's doubtful that the commission will recommend anything that affects current retirees or those who are close to qualifying for benefits.
Expect the commission to recommend ways to extend the health of Social Security by extending both the years of eligibility and full-retirement.
The earliest anyone can start receiving Social Security benefits is 62.
But qualifying for "full retirement" benefits depends on your date of birth.
If you were born in 1953, for example, full retirement age is 66. Born in 1959, it's 66 and 10 months.
Born in 1960 and later it's 67.
Comments
I have been sitting around the house studying the background of Social Security and Medicare. I gave a good deal of thought to this subject because I was disturbed by the recent agreement between Reps Hoyer and Boehner that the Social Security Retirement age should be raised to a potentially point of 70 years of age.
I read some of the commentaries of both men and others who commented on the issue. Then I began to count the cost.
I have to wonder... why should I support or oppose such an idea.
I have come to the conclusion that I should not, nor should any sane person, support such a proposal.
The politicians have tipped their hands on this issue. The Social Security and Medicare programs are little more than a fraud perpetrated on the American people, by the elected officials.
Continued
I am 53 years old, based on my family history, there is a high likelihood that I will NEVER live to see 70 years old.
My father died when he was 35 years old. My mother died at 50, my older brother at 55, my grandparents all died prior to age 67.
Now I have politicians telling me that after they have collected FICA on the lifetimes of work from these seven family members with no payouts, that if we only move my retirement age out five additional years, that you will have the money to pay my retirement. I know that some people live well beyond the 65 year age point. I also know from personal experience that some do not, so tell me why should I believe a Congress that has a long track record of not making good financial decisions, is going to act responsibly now?
I have no faith in your (the Congress's) ability to manage my money, because so far you (the Congress's) have shown no such ability to do so responsibly.
Continued
It is time for Congress to take responsibility for their actions. I submit that until the national deficit is eliminated, the debt is retired, and an actual surplus is "IN THE BANK", the Congress, the President and all their staffs should be limited to being paid minimum wage, and all perks should be withheld until then as well. Anything less, is nothing more than fraud on the part of the government perpetrated on the people.
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