Free Republic

Social Security is among the rare topics that can make Republicans and Democrats see eye to eye, according to a new survey. In Pennsylvania, people on both sides of the aisle agree that it’s time to raise payroll taxes on high-income earners, cut benefits for the wealthiest retirees, and even push the full retirement age from 67 to 68 if that’s what it takes to keep Social Security from running out of cash. A new poll conducted by the University of Maryland’s Program For Public Consultation found majorities from both political parties want to see lawmakers tackle Social Security’s looming...

Furious campaigners warned proposals to hike up the state pension age 11 years earlier than planned would leave the retirement plans of older workers in tatters.Employees aged 54 and under would be forced to delay quitting their jobs under plans floated by the Treasury. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s team has examined bringing forward a planned rise in the pensionable age 68 by more than a decade to save billions. But Age UK said making 50-somethings wait longer for their pension would leave many struggling to make ends meet in later life. Charity director Caroline Abrahams said: “We feel strongly that there...

Republican Rep. Rick Allen of Georgia suggested last week that he would support raising the Social Security retirement age—a policy change that would slash benefits across the board—because people have approached him and said they “actually want to work longer.” Confronted by an advocate in the Capitol Building and asked how the GOP plans to cut Social Security, the congressman responded, “We’re not going to cut Social Security.” But seconds later, Allen contradicted himself by expressing support for raising the retirement age, saying the move would “solve every one of these problems”—not specifying what the “problems” are from his perspective.

The increasing costs of population growth in Sweden, driven almost entirely mass migration, have forced the government to seriously consider raising the national retirement age to pay for the additional costs. Swedish Socialist party Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson announced that the retirement age would likely be raised in the near future in order to offset increased welfare costs, Swedish newspaper Expressen reports. “Looking at those who start working at 30, there should be opportunities to work longer than 65,” Andersson said. The minister made her remarks following an economic report from the Local Authorities and County Council (SKL) released earlier...

As Germans live longer and lower birth rates mean fewer workers are available to replace retirees, the Bundesbank says people will need to work longer in order to meet pension demands. The German Federal Bank (Bundesbank) said in its monthly report on Monday that by 2060 Germany should increase the retirement age to 69 from the current 65. The retirement age is already set to reach 67 by 2030, but the Bundesbank said that even with the current favorable financial situation and this increase, “further adjustments are inevitable”. “At the same time, a longer working life will not be taboo,”...

German lawmakers approved on Friday a major pensions overhaul, criticized by many, including within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition, as making little economic sense in a rapidly aging country. The new rules will allow some workers to retire at the age of 63, while the norm of 67 is being progressively phased in for workers in Europe’s top economy after a 2007 change. […] Critics, including from abroad, have also pointed to the paradox of Germany now lowering its retirement age after having pressed its partners in Europe during the debt and financial crisis not to permit the same. Even former...

It’s time for a 21st-century retirement age. If 40 is the new 20 and 50 is the new 30, why shouldn’t 70 be the new 65? The last time politicians tinkered ever so gingerly with the government-sanctioned retirement age, Ronald Reagan was in office and Generation X–ers were all in diapers. Since then, American life expectancy has increased by half a decade and continues to rise — while the “traditional” retirement age (established eight decades ago) has only recently begun phasing up to 67 and the official “early” retirement age (established four decades ago) remains stuck at 62. There is...

LA PAZ, Bolivia Bucking a global trend, leftist-led Bolivia is lowering its retirement age and nationalizing its pension funds. Bolivia's Congress approved legislation early Friday to make Bolivians eligible for full pensions at age 58. The country's 70,000 miners will get to retire two years earlier. The previous retirement age was 65 for men and 60 for women. Bolivia's decision to lower its retirement age runs counter to a global trend to raise retirement ages as life expectancies rise, birth rates drop and national treasuries come under strain from pension obligations. France raised its minimum retirement age to 62 last...

FDL has learned that in a last minute move, Nancy Pelosi sneaked language into the rule that the House is voting on tonight regarding war funding. Embedded in the rule is the requirement that the House will vote on the deficit commission’s recommendations in the lame duck session if they pass the Senate. The commission, co-chaired by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, is packed with members who favor the raising the retirement age to 70, means testing, and private accounts. Many also support investing 20% of the Social Security trust fund in the stock market. It’s ironic that yesterday Pelosi...

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...

Recently, the IRS extended its definition of acceptable retirement age to all defined benefit plans, including governmental plans. The regulations state that normal retirement age under a plan must be an age that is “not earlier than the earliest age that is reasonably representative of the typical retirement age for the industry in which the covered workforce is employed.” For most workers, a normal retirement age that falls between ages 55 and 62 would meet the new IRS standard. The IRS has made an exception for plans where the majority of the plan participants are qualified public safety employees. For...

Enhanced pension deals are county's albatross... The county has the distinction of carrying more retirees (6,050) than active employees (4,631) on county health insurance. Add in 3,100 spouses and dependents of retirees, and the county is insuring more than 9,000 individuals on the retiree side. The county now pays out more in health care for retirees than for active employees. In addition to her monthly check, she was promised, and cherishes, free health insurance for the rest of her life. It is the sum of such promises to Schumann and 6,000-plus other retirees that is a major stumbling block as...

WASHINGTON - Work till you're 69 before getting full Social Security benefits? That's one possibility — for Americans who retire two decades or more into the future — as Republicans on a key Senate committee review suggestions for improving the program's solvency. No decisions have been made yet, and it could be fall before the politically volatile Social Security issue reaches the floor of either the House or Senate, if then. At the same time, an increase in the retirement age is one of the suggestions that Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee,...

<p>August 7, 2003 -- SURPRISE! Democratic 2004 front-runner Howard Dean is starting to sound like Bill Clinton in a very un-good way: playing word games and waltzing with the truth.</p> <p>Which doesn't quite suit his claim that his honesty sets him apart from rivals.</p>