First Boomer Applies for Social Security

Oct 15th, 2007 | WASHINGTON -- The nation's first baby boomer applied for Social Security benefits Monday, signaling the start of an expected avalanche of applications from the post World War II war generation.

Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, a former teacher from New Jersey, applied for benefits over the Internet at an event attended by Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue. Casey-Kirschling, who now lives in Maryland, was born one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946, making her the first baby boomer — a generation of nearly 80 million born from 1946 to 1964, Astrue said.

Casey-Kirschling will be eligible for benefits after she turns 62 next year.

An estimated 10,000 people a day will become eligible for Social Security benefits over the next two decades, Astrue said.

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/2007/10/15/D8S9SELO2_boomer_social_security/index.html

Something tells me I'm not retiring . . .

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that helped others over time.

each one reach one, you could say.

that paid for a lot of things. SS is a horrible tax that's both regressive and soon it will punish the young because they're an easier political target.

anyone who depends on SS when they retire will have trouble in their financial future.


Everyone should be (should have been) putting big parts of their pay into IRAS, the stock market, what have you.

very few people have any money left after the necessities for such frivolities as savings.

you put 5-10- 25 dollars away per pay, it's a start. Always pay yourself first.

I realize with many jobs that is hard. But a lot of workplaces have worker match, so sometimes you double the money you put into a 401 K at work.

My $46000.00 in student loans accrue at $3.10 per day. My mortgage is $957.38 per month. Truck payment, various insurances, etc., etc., adds up. I make $56000.00 per year as a petroleum geologist, and can barely make ends meet. Just glad my daughter has good health, as do I. Had to skip the home football game her last Saturday, it was homecoming, because I couldn't squeeze out the $42 for a youth and adult ticket for the kid and myself. Oh well. I'm thinking the cable is getting turned off for the winter, because the electric bills tend to run over $200 per month November-March. Enough of my whining. The thing is...I wish I could squeeze out $5 per day to set aside, but that is my beer money.

it was easier for me to put money away when I had no kid, no school fees, no mortgage, no taxes, no office rent, etc. :(

And I went to school when school and grad school were relatively cheap.

I don't know what the answer is, I still get 401 k match from when I worked full-time even though I work part-time now, and it's still something.


But it does seem that if things are difficult for people now, people with educations and decent jobs, how will people be able to afford to retire?

:sarcasm: It's too depressing to think about. I just wonder how in the hell I'll be able to come up with the thousands that whatever college my daughter chooses to go to decides that I can afford.

Every one of us 'boomers' paid into the pot, many of twice as many years as you are old probably. SocSec started in the 30's, long before we were born, so we have been paying all our lives. And guess what junior, try taking out 5% of a paycheck that is based on $1.50 an hourm compare that to 8% of a paycheck 20 or more times that. Quit sniveling.

It needn't be said I suppose, but you really should alter post sufficiently so that it isn't an exact match of the Dittohead Manifesto!

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How charmingly stereotypical.
No amount of money that babyboomers paid into the general budget through the SS tax justifies a punishing regressive tax targeted at young workers who on-average have lower incomes than seniors and don't have the luxury of health insurance.
There's nothing Republican about pointing out that a poor generation that is least likely to have health care is being taxed regressively to subsidize a much richer generation. Its ridiculous.

The "regressive" aspect of Soc Sec you mention is effectively negated by the progressive pymt of benefits to recipients. The average worker usually gains back every penny he's ever paid into Soc Sec after 7 yrs. Most recipients collect Soc Sec for far longer than 7 yrs.

So, if you hate Soc Sec & Medicare, are you for bringing back the sick and elderly poor?

I don't see why my other comment was deleted.
I didn't write that I was against SS and Medicare. I disagree with the regressive way those programs are funded.

I have worked. I have paid into SS for more than 40 years. However, I am MARRIED. My husband over the years has made much more than me. So, I will have to choose - his or mine. I will NEVER be able to collect what I HAVE paid into it for all these years. All the money I HAVE PAID into SS will be gone.

Sucks to be a married working woman.

If not, why won't you get your SS?

is there a reason why you think you'll have to chose or not get any at all?

Bush gave it away to the rich. You're anger is justified as long as you've got it pointed in the right direction.

I am well over 60 and still paying in. I have been paying into the system for over 45 years in order to support the so-called greatest generation.

Both of my parents are still around and each has been drawing benefits for 27 years. For 25 of those years their SS checks were drawn from funds they did not place there.

The nice thing about my parents is that they both understand the math and always raise a toast to their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren at the family gatherings for our contribution to their well being.

They also never fail to thank us for their universal health care - a program started in 1966. My Mother paid nothing into it and my Dad paid in for only 13 years.

My family refers to the middle class entitlements for the Greatest Generation as "the longest thank you note ever written".

Medicare is.

OnMTP, Greenspan explained SS can easily be fixed.

Cut the benefit, extend retirement age and raise the taxes.
With just those three simple tools you can ensure that SS will be solvent for eternity.

Whether you can live on it, that is a different question.

I was curious about that bit of news. Thanks for clearing this.

Does this mean that all of us need to apply some 2.5 months before we turn 62 (if we want to start drawing at 62)? That it takes 2.5 months to process the application?

that means she has other means of support.

Damn, I forgot to get married.

but will plan on first tapping the IRAs and 401Ks and hope to delay applying to Social Security until 70.

the Baby Boomers as offical "senior citizens!" Bad things will happen (like Dennis Hopper in those excruciatingly painful "financial planning" ads around right now.) In 20 years, the speed limit on the highways will be 45 mph. Being able to eat dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon will become a civil right: all restaurants of all kinds will be required to be open and serving dinner (not lunch!) from that time onwards. Pornogaphers will have to abide by strict new anti-ageism laws in their casting decisions. Just you wait for it!:scared:

I don't care what anyone says.thank you.