While we have raised the age of full SS benefit eligibility, we haven’t raised it far enough or fast enough to prevent serious problems.
It needs to be raised to about 75 *right now*. Not decades off in the future, but now.
As it is, the money flow tipping point (whether more money was going into or coming out of the SS fund) was predicted to happen in 2017 has started as of 2010.
My guess as to why the predictions were so wildly off base is that during the recession a lot of people who lost jobs felt they had no recourse other than accept early retirement (age 62-65). We considered it ourselves, but decided to cut our budget a lot and muddle through for another few years until we qualified for full SS. We're glad we did.
“It needs to be raised to about 75”
Do you seriously think people will be capable of doing their jobs when they are in their seventies? I retired at 61 because after 45 years of looking into a microscope my eyes were shot and I was unable to see important elements in the specimens I was examining. My fear of making an incorrect diagnosis was greater than my fear of having a dramatic shift in my income.
While 75 sounds like a nice number to aim for I am not sure that it is realistic. By the way if I had tried to apply for disability I would have received twice as much as my SS payments.