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Retirement age 'will rise to 85'
BBC News ^ | Last Updated: Friday, 17 February 2006, 23:57 GMT | Paul Rincon, BBC News science reporter, St Louis

Posted on 02/18/2006 7:25:29 AM PST by Paleo Conservative

The age of retirement should be raised to 85 by 2050 because of trends in life expectancy, a US biologist has said.

Shripad Tuljapurkar of Stanford University says anti-ageing advances could raise life expectancy by a year each year over the next two decades.


A longer life could mean a longer
working life

That will put a strain on economies around the world if current retirement ages are maintained, he warned.

He also told a science meeting in St Louis that 50-year or 75-year mortgages may not be unusual in the future.

Dr Tuljapurkar was speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in the Missouri city.

"People are going to do things they didn't get round to in their working lives. Current institutions are really not equipped at the moment to deal with such long lives," Dr Tuljapurkar said.

"We are going to have to plan a lot more carefully, which people are not very good at."

Lifestyle trends

The Stanford researcher has been looking at relationships between historical trends in ageing, population growth and economic activity.

Based on this, he came up with a scenario in which anti-ageing technologies will increase the most common age of death by one year per year between 2010 and 2030.

Dr Tuljapurkar then applied this scenario to four countries: the US, China, Sweden and India.

In the US the cost of social security and medical care would almost double if people retired at 65

He found that his projected trends in life expectancy would have profound effects on the economy, lifestyle and population demographics.

"It might be possible to go through two mortgages, for example, or even have 50-year or 75-year mortgages," Dr Tuljapurkar explained.

In the US, the cost of social security and medical care would almost double if people retired at 65 under Tuljapurkar's scenario.

But an increase in the retirement age to 85 would bring costs down to today's levels.

However these trends would also create a "permanent underclass" of countries where opportunities for increased life expectancy were not the same as in the industrialised world.

"We can't even get retrovirals to some countries now," he told journalists.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: elderly; genx; lifeexpectancy; retirement; trends
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To: rwfromkansas
This is why I am going to start saving for retirement immediately once I begin working after college. No waiting except for maybe a couple months to get myself oriented. It has to start soon, for I can't count on getting ANY SS and heaven knows how little that covers anyway.

Exactly right. I don't understand the doom and gloom here. We're supposed to be on the side of personal responsibility, and we don't need government permission to retire.

81 posted on 02/18/2006 10:16:49 AM PST by ThinkDifferent (Chloe rocks)
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To: wtc911
There are fools and jerks enough of any age.

Limiting costs by euthanasia and triage is the rule today and will be in the future. "Hospice care" is a morphine pump turned up all the way and no resuscitation.

It is cheap to warehouse people but terribly expensive to keep someone alive who is going to die anyway. Of course, all of us are "going to die anyway" and so the issue resolves to who decides who gets the chop. (As all issues are resolved in the end.) Lenin is famous for his "who - whom".
82 posted on 02/18/2006 10:25:55 AM PST by Iris7 (Dare to be pigheaded! Stubborn! "Tolerance" is not a virtue!)
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To: Billthedrill
Wonder how my SS benefits are going to be affected when this puppy slams into our planet in 2028.


83 posted on 02/18/2006 10:28:00 AM PST by Nexus6
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To: Zuben Elgenubi
However, just think of the millions of Generation Xers that will have to toil for an additional 20 or 25 years under the baby boomers. They will go absolutely bonkers.

No one has to "toil" for 10 minutes! Because anyone younger than 50 who thinks they will ever see a dime of SSI is out of their minds. SSI is NOT part of my retirement planning. If it there when I retire at an age of MY choosing, great. I'll use it for toys or somthing fun.

If you are under 50 and are stupid enough to include SSI in your retirement planning, you DESERVE to "toil" until you are 85.

84 posted on 02/18/2006 10:29:54 AM PST by freedumb2003 (American troops cannot be defeated. American Politicians can.)
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To: Nexus6
Wonder how my SS benefits are going to be affected when this puppy slams into our planet in 2028.

I don't know about you, but I know it will be reported that minorities and women will be hurt the most.

85 posted on 02/18/2006 10:30:59 AM PST by freedumb2003 (American troops cannot be defeated. American Politicians can.)
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To: Paleo Conservative

This could become a problem if we get past the end of March.


86 posted on 02/18/2006 10:31:15 AM PST by RightWhale (pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
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To: Paleo Conservative

Once again, society suffers because of the persecution of smokers. When everyone smoked, people stayed skinny, worked hard, and died at a reasonable age.


87 posted on 02/18/2006 10:32:39 AM PST by mysterio
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To: Nexus6

Ooh - that doesn't look promising. But every cloud has a silver lining - my advice? Invest in umbrellas.


88 posted on 02/18/2006 10:33:32 AM PST by Billthedrill
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To: BureaucratusMaximus
But thats not a solution for a free capitalistic society. At some point we have to choose...either we want socialism or capitalism. This in-between BS really pisses me off.

You are right. We should exchange Norplant for welfare. As long as someone is on the public dole they aren't allowed to increase their dependency (and our tax buden).

89 posted on 02/18/2006 10:34:30 AM PST by freedumb2003 (American troops cannot be defeated. American Politicians can.)
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To: Zuben Elgenubi
Federal government to delay the bankruptcy of the SSA.

BINGO!!

90 posted on 02/18/2006 10:36:30 AM PST by ChefKeith (Flies,fleas,ants,skeeters,ticks,cockroaches,badcops,lawyers,judges,politicians All the same.Useless!)
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To: sergeantdave
For $2,000 you can build a fine 8 x 10 shack. As you save more money, add onto it. In 5 years you'll have 40 x 50 shack. No mortgage necessary.

You must live in BFE where there are no codes and no zoning if you think that's even remotely viable.

91 posted on 02/18/2006 10:37:15 AM PST by Melas (What!? Read or learn something? Why would anyone do that, when they can just go on being stupid)
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To: freedumb2003

Hopefully, we'll still have Ray Nagin on hand. His leadership will be invaluable when that asteroid hits planet earth. A time for healing, a time to rebuild into a chocolate planet.


92 posted on 02/18/2006 10:38:42 AM PST by Nexus6
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To: DumpsterDiver
I'd love to see both of those programs fall flat on their a$$es and die.

I imagine that's an extremely common sentiment amongst those who were able to retire at 46. Paris Hilton's crowd would likewise be happy to see all those eyesore Hondas and Fords off the roads, and all that (ugh) single family housing located to Apalachia where they wouldn't have to look at it.

93 posted on 02/18/2006 10:41:29 AM PST by Melas (What!? Read or learn something? Why would anyone do that, when they can just go on being stupid)
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To: Paleo Conservative

"Hey! You kids get off my boss's lawn!"


94 posted on 02/18/2006 10:41:49 AM PST by mrsmith
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To: SauronOfMordor

Without a doubt. The resentment towards the entitlement class that could work, but won't work is growing. Unfortunately it's not growing fast enough for me.


95 posted on 02/18/2006 10:44:58 AM PST by Melas (What!? Read or learn something? Why would anyone do that, when they can just go on being stupid)
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To: SauronOfMordor
I got a 30 year mortgage, but paid extra principal during a very prosperous long term consulting gig.

That's fine and dandy, but look at amortization tables. The first few years of a 30 year mortgage you're only paying 20-40 dollars a month towards principal. With a 15 year mortgage it's several hundred dollars. I plan on doing the same thing and hope to be paid off in 10 years, not 25.

96 posted on 02/18/2006 10:46:09 AM PST by AlaskaErik (Everyone should have a subject they are ignorant about. I choose professional corporate sports.)
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To: freedumb2003
SSI is NOT part of my retirement planning. If it there when I retire at an age of MY choosing, great. I'll use it for toys or somthing fun.

I'm with you. If my husband and I ever see social security, it will be our "travel" money. I'm not counting on it, and when the time comes I won't be dependent on it.

97 posted on 02/18/2006 10:51:17 AM PST by Not A Snowbird (Official RKBA Landscaper and Arborist, Duchess of Green Leafy Things)
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To: BureaucratusMaximus

Making the statement that "some" younger freepers espouse euthanasia is not the same as making a statement about all young people or what my opinion is about all young people. And yet you accuse me of being intellectually dishonest.


98 posted on 02/18/2006 10:56:43 AM PST by wtc911 (You can't get there from here)
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To: Melas
I imagine that's an extremely common sentiment amongst those who were able to retire at 46.

I am far from rich and have been told by financial planners that I was stupid to quit working at that age. I was able to retire because I had no debt and I am willing to live cheap. That doesn't cut it for most people.

Life is short. Twenty-nine years of working was enough for me.

99 posted on 02/18/2006 10:56:55 AM PST by DumpsterDiver
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To: AlaskaErik
That's fine and dandy, but look at amortization tables. The first few years of a 30 year mortgage you're only paying 20-40 dollars a month towards principal.

And I paid off the 30-year mortgage in 8 years, by putting in extra principal payments whenever I could, while not being obligated to pay more than my standard payment in lean times

100 posted on 02/18/2006 10:57:14 AM PST by SauronOfMordor (A planned society is most appealing to those with the hubris to think they will be the planners)
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