when I need those things myself. Yep, we all work in an office.

You give every person a reason (SS, Medicare, etc.) to retire at 55 and many would leave the workforce to open up jobs for others.

period

Our economy could not afford that. I would like to see 62 as a SS age but I also favor mandatory requirement to open up jobs for younger workers.

as our country can kick other countries asses. Countries still owe us from WWI loans.

We can afford anything the public wants and better SocSec at 50 than a state unemployment stippen as currently being paid. This would put the kids to work and let older 50's to try new things.

IMO it would be the biggest jobs plan since the TVA.

life expectancy has increased since ss was started. your average 65 year old today is in a lot better shape trhan a 65 yr old back i nthe 30's.

the age should be raised to at least 72,but on a phased in scale so people nearing retirement age today dont have to worry about it

had a very hard, physical job that have all they can do to walk. How does anyone expect them to keep going into their 70's. Are they going to be re-trained for the jobs that aren't available?

Kids just out of college can't get work, keeping people working that many more years will make the situation worse.

keeping the age at 65 make no economic sense. we cant afford it .

I collect social security and that is my only income. I have some savings from my 401K, but I am not going to touch it because it will have to last me for the rest of my life.

I agree with your post upthread, that lowering the SS age is completely unrealistic. Let's be just as realistic here--for a lot of people, particularly during and after an economic downturn like this, Social Security is going to be the only guaranteed retirement income.

given early retirement and kicked out of work. Go find a job equivalent in pay to what you had at the age of 55 or higher.

Or someone who has only ever had a desk job.

62 is fine.

to 10% at 50, 5% at 60.

needed for the size of the population. It either civil unrest or SocSec.


Also an eMail to your congress criter would help. Tell them they can be a national name overnight if they introduce this bill in the House.

Sort of like the first perp to talk gets a deal (too much TV).

the retirement age will never be lowered. thinking otherwise is just a fantasy

benefit.

I'll be waiting until I'm 65 to get SS.

that can't get full benefits till 66 or 67.

The age for full benefits has already been raised.

I am not worried because I have been collecting SS since I turned 65, which was 8 years ago.

and for people born some time later (I forget exactly when--early 1960s, maybe?) it's 67.

I'm in the group that has to wait till 66.

What we are doing now is unsustainable. We literally have people driving two hours a day to push digital dots around a computer screen. Creating absolutely nothing of value and only contributing to destroying the climate with the increase in carbon emissions.
We are going to have to figure out a way to provide for the least among us while ensuring we don't create more pollution for our offspring than they can handle. Were literally at the point where it may be already too late and most people could care less. Even avowed progressive liberals are to frightened to act. To make sacrifices for the betterment of all the earths creatures. We need to figure out a way to take care of people without causing even more irreparable damage to our world.
Either that or climate change isn't real and were good to go. Keep on keeping on!

I'm 48, came out of high school in '82 and I'm bone weary from struggling to stay out of poverty over 3 decades of Reaganomics.

I've worked at least 2 lifetimes already... years and years of 12-16 hour days

We are destroying the natural environment that supports us.

We can ease up now by implementing earlier retirement ages, shorter work weeks, free education, generous welfare benifits, etc... and bring this doomed airplane down as gently as possible.

Or we can corkscrew into the ground at 500 miles per hour engines full throttle.

why would the plane be brought down gently? Vacations for all!

But you might live in a community where you don't need a car, you wouldn't have to worry about medical bills, and you'd have no fear of homelessness or hunger if you lost your job.

I think generous retirement benefits, welfare, public works projects, and public education should compete directly with shitty employers. Any Wal-Mart greeter ought to be able to say, fuck this, I'm retired. Any kid working for an evil boss in a fast food place ought to be able to say, fuck this, I'm going back to school. Any person feeling trapped in a cubicle with a phone, a computer terminal, and impossible deadlines, ought to be able to say, fuck this, I'm going to join a trail crew at a National Park. A person working in a warehouse, picking lettuce or strawberries, any labor that wears a body out, ought to be paid well when they are young and strong, and have the ability to walk away and do something else when their joints start to scream.

Our consumer economy is going to die whatever we do. Our humanity doesn't have to die with it. The U.S.A is rapidly becoming a plutocracy. It doesn't have to be that way.

public works projects would rank right up there in implementing that destruction.

... in other words abandoning our high cost, fossil fueled, high energy consumer society.

It will happen one way or another. It would be nice if we could control the process, so it's just not stuff falling apart and being abandoned in a haphazard way as hungry people mill around looking for work.

If you're a government worker, you get 5 weeks.

If you're over 60, you get another week on top of whatever your base vacation period is. My American friend, who has lived in Norway since age 23, does IT work for the Norwegian government, just turned 60, and now gets 6 weeks of paid vacation.

P.S. They pay for their own plane tickets and hotels.

jeez, for the past 45 years I've been in the building trades, roofing, cement work, stucco, carpentry, and the rest of the things that make a house come together as a home for someone.

I'm freaking tired and at 61 I don't really want to lift anymore plywood, or build anymore stairs.

If I keep on I'll probably get hurt and then after the workers comp runs out, I'll be shuffled out the door due to
not being able to perform my job as it should be done.

It's not like I can just shuffle paper.

I'm 51, and I am nowhere near ready to retire. Instead of forcing middle age people to retire when they get laid off, there should be a more long-term version of unemployment that lets them live decently until another job comes up. Many of the European countries, such as Germany, have such a system. It keeps people from becoming destitute, and it also keeps money pumped into the economy.

the kids are passing us by. No mainline corporation will let a middle manage and up get past 55. Remember that SocSec is based on 3 lastest yr for benefits , layed off = low pay for the rest of life.

Europe is much smallerand lower birth rate and school systems geared toward tech.

64. He took an early payout from AT&T. It seemed to be the right time. Young enough to enjoy retirement, old enough to know that it is time. The seventies are way too high for many people. My parents have a friend still working at 73 and his body is breaking down and paying a price. 50 is WAY too young. 50 somethings are there to provide experience and advice for younger workers. We need them in the work force. 49 as being one year away from retirement? Too young.

then go for it.

He is in very good health and looks much younger then 64. Lots of people came up to him at work and couldn't believe he was old enough to retire. He had a good laugh out of that. He can spend lots of time with my two daughters who are 6 and 7. And lots of time with my Mom.

65 seems to be a right age unless your health prevents it.