Posted on 05/02/2010 9:06:00 PM PDT by george76
Despite the uproar, France is not alone in considering such a step. Countries from Britain to Greece are also grappling with declining populations, ballooning government debt and longer life spans.
With budget deficits ballooning across the continent, and a huge bailout of debt-ridden Greece on the verge of taking place, officials across Europe say they have no choice but to boost retirement ages if they are to tackle a monumental economic problem compounded by declining populations and longer life spans.
But few issues are as sensitive in a region where the right to retire at a decent age, and retire well, is considered almost an inalienable social right. For many here, it's one of the defining elements of their identity as Europeans, part of what they feel makes them different — more reasonable, more humane — from overworked, overstressed Americans.
old-age benefits are a tricky political issue in the U.S. too: Pity the lawmaker who tries to fiddle with Social Security.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.latimes.com ...
Waah, waah. Don’t get to retire at 55. I will be LUCKY if I can quit when I’m 70.
And the government(s) want to ban salt and trans-fats...!
The way things are going, I'm looking at 90.
If our greedy and corrupt US congress both past and present didn’t raid Social Security and left it as a true fund then perhaps we wouldn’t be in a similar pickle too. How much more can the retirement age be raised? 70? They would rather you work and then die-—leave all your paid in contributions to the illegals and loafers—all who vote for the Dems!
I would support raising the retirement age, along with a modest trim in Social Security benefits, and I am on SS myself. I also think that we need to give younger people a way to opt out if they want, but only if they have another guaranteed alternative.
We have to address this here in the US if for no other reason that people are living so much longer than when the system was put into place. If we are going to hang on to Social Security, and I see no possible way it is going to stop any time soon, then we also need to raise the wage cap on deductions along with a number of other real reforms.
Yes, I am aware of how unpopular these ideas are, but we have been battling over this same issue for decades and have accomplished little in real reform. Social Security is going to be here to stay for some time yet, so we have to consider real reforms, and that includes cuts to current recipients no matter how painful. Everyone is taking multiple financial hits, and nobody is immune.
One of the only people who has shown any guts on this matter in my view has been Marco Rubio, and he is really drawing some clear distinctions between him and Charlie Crist over this very issue. Rubio seems to be well insulated from that proverbial third rail...
I took mine on day 1. If S/S were to offer some goodies for waiting to 70 to get S/S I might have waited. If they could get the 55 and under to wait 5 years then that could save S/S.
>>If S/S were to offer some goodies for waiting to 70 to get S/S I might have waited. If they could get the 55 and under to wait 5 years then that could save S/S.<<
If you are under 50 and think you will see a dime of SSI you are crazy. If you are under 60 and think you will see more than a dime of SSI you are crazy.
Anyone who is not already retired who didn’t zero SSI in his/her retirement plans is living in Fantasyland. And if you are smart, you will retire outside the USA, since who knows if obama II isn’t out there somewhere to finish the job that obama I has begun in destroying the USA: Next up, your 401K gets taxed or just annexed.
Retirement?.... What’s that? With the taxes that all Obama’s spending will be putting on us....I will be working until the day I drop dead.(Unless my luck lottery numbers come up)..LOL
Well, I retired at 55 and took my pension and again at 62 from my hobby job and went on SS. Life’s been good these last 9 years.
My younger brother retired at 62 and died 6 months later...
They will just haul us out and replace us with a 20 something who won’t have a clue. Then they will see how much they miss the old people who actually had a work ethic. But for now, they are going to kick us to the curb.
Why are druggies, alcoholics and ‘bi-polars’, for example, lounging around in their 20-30-40’s, perfectly able bodied, living off money and free medical that comes out of our the social security money we paid into all our lives?
If the gov’t wants to take care of these people, year after year, with no incentive to get off it, then let it be from another fund. The number of these people, who have paid little to no money into SS has mushroomed in the past 20 years. Indeed, they don't have anything taken out of their monthly ‘payment’ for medicare and they pay no deductible or co-pay and they get their office visits free and free counseling - all things those of us who paid in from age 15, don't get.
Don't buy into the hype that people on social sec are getting ‘free lunch’ - as bill clinton once said ‘ and that we should work longer and get less.
Let's just stop the embezzlement from social security.
Ya should of got a governmant job.
GOVERNMENT UNIONS
If there are any additional increases in Social Security retirment age, there should be an exception for those who have spent considerable time at hard physical labor. I am thinking miners, steel workers and the like. Their bodies take a much greater beating than office workers, or people in light manufacturing.
I agree with you, and it is too late to get into a rant about all of the reforms that SS needs. It’s a pit of snakes and there are no easy answers.
We had a nationalized health care loving contract employee from Ireland for a while where I work who told me a big lie that Sarkozy was going to raise the retirement age in France to 75. Telling each other ridiculous lies like this keeps their faith based Leftism going, I guess.
Abortion affects all life and it a simple fact
Retirement the Obama way, leaving that last day, feet first, with a sheet over one's face, and a tag on one's toe... This is likely the *best* scenario I envivsion for my future. The others? Even grimmer...
the infowarrior
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.