Amid a rising national debt and fears about the fiscal stability of Social Security, the idea of raising the retirement age to balance the program’s books is garnering more attention. But doing so would be a heavy lift politically.
The projected reserves of the combined Social Security trust fund and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund will become exhausted in 2034. Some economists and lawmakers are calling for big changes to the old-age social insurance program created in 1935 by Franklin Roosevelt and a Democratic Congress. Proposed Social Security tweaks include raising the retirement age from 67 to effectively limit the payout pool to older individuals.
It would put the U.S. on a better fiscal footing by reducing the budget deficit and national debt, said Charles Blahous, a senior economic adviser to former President George W. Bush and a public trustee of Social Security and Medicare during President Barack Obama’s administration.
Raising the retirement age would also improve Social Security’s long-term finances to ensure seniors in the future can access all the money they’ve paid into the program through their working careers.
Read more at Washingtonexaminer.com
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