Not In Kansas Anymore (NIKA)

Retirement Age Changes

I am, as usual, behind in my reading. I just finished two of John Mauldin's weekly newsletters from February where he discusses demographic shifts and the problem with social security.

• Social Security's Flawed Assumption (Feb. 4, 2005)


• Blame It on Demographics (Feb. 11, 2005)

The first article points out that Social Security was designed in the middle of the Great Depression, providing full benefits at the age of 65 during a time when average life expectancy was only 59! And yet the system hasn't been updated. It's only been expanded, from an emergency safety net, to what many people consider to be their entire retirement plan.

The second article makes a strong argument for the retirement age going up from around 65 now to 69 by 2015 and to 73 by 2050. Otherwise there simply won't be enough people in the work force to do all the jobs that need to be done.

Posted by Tom Nugent at April 11, 2005 05:33 PM