Labor & Employment Law

Don?t Raise the Retirement Age

By Mike Hall

If anybody knows the ins and outs of Social Security, it’s Henry Ballantyne. He was the Social Security Administration?s chief actuary between 1982 and 2000. Today, he told a telephone press conference Social Security that

Social Security is financially sound?We don?t need to raise the retirement age.

The press conference, held with several Social Security advocates, addressed the growing number of reports that the federal budget deficit commission is likely to recommend raising the retirement age and making other cuts when it makes its recommendations after the November elections.

That post-election date is a convenient excuse for lawmakers, enabling them to dodge taking a stand to protect Social Security with the lame explanation that they are waiting to to see what the commission recommends.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chairman of the House Progressive Caucus, told reporters that his colleagues should show some backbone and courage and take a stand now.

Members of Congress should be saying we are opposed to raising retirement age, other cuts, taxes on benefits and privatization. We should state unequivocally that is something we will not support.

Works for us.

Also today, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) also released its ?Top 10 Reasons Not to Raise the Retirement Age.? It?s not David Letterman funny, but then cutting Social Security is nothing to laugh at. Here are the top two reasons. Click here for the full list.

• Raising the retirement age is a benefit cut, and benefits are already too low. The average retiree receives less than $14,000 a year from Social Security, which is less than the minimum wage.
• Raising the retirement age cuts benefits for all retirees, whether they retire at age 62, age 70, or any other age?and it is a cut for retired workers? spouses, widows and dependents as well. When the retirement age was raised from 65 to 67, it cut benefits by 13 percent for workers who retires at 65, meaning they lose, on average, $28,154 over the course of their expected retirement. Raising the retirement age further, to 70, would cut benefits another 19 percent, costing the average worker another $35,419, for a total loss of $63,573.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on August 24, 2010 (boomark / email).