Hope I die before I...RETIRE???

[SteveMacD]

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON - 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, Pa., 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-S.D., and Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., 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 Security.

[skcin]

Oh yay! I'm supposed to retire in 2040, so I get one year of full payments before they cut it. Yippeeeee!

[SuzeQuze]

The numbers for when Social Security will be depleted are very conservatively estimated. We would have to have a very sluggish economy for it to happen so soon. I get so angry at these a-holes because they made their own retirement plan, they don't even get Social Security! I'm tired of these rich men deciding on things for people. They have no perspective on real life.

[gldstwmn]

I think I will probably still work in some capacity as long as I am able. However, I realize that is a luxury and my choice. Certainly, we can come up with a better solution than this.

[seeker007nmss]

What I don't understand. The majority of the public can't tell you why popcorn works, and how to set the clocks on their VCRS......and they want them to invest their retirement funds themselves? I see an opportunity for scammers to take most of the money and alot of broke, homeless, old folks. And more cash being spent on social services, than would be used to get social security back up. Yes, I know you aren't suppose to use Social Security as your only source of income when you get older....But most do.

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

I think I will probably still work in some capacity as long as I am able. However, I realize that is a luxury and my choice. Certainly, we can come up with a better solution than this.

Get rid of the income cap of 90,000 for paying into it. Those making over that will still contribute the standard percentage of their pay to Social Security.

I will also always work as long as I am able. It keeps you fulfilled and happy to feel like a contributing member of society. Hopefully it will be in a part time capacity and only doing something I LOVE.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

Get rid of the income cap of 90,000 for paying into it.

There is some evidence that getting rid of the cap by itself will significantly help. But, the R's and D's will NEVER do that until they have to. Sad - very true.