There is a group of CEOs who think it is a great idea to raise the
retirement age. These rich men, these titans of industry have a plan to fix Social Security and Medicare. A plan that includes raising the retirement age to 70 for those under 55. I am 45 years old, and back in May of 2012 I
wrote:
I am still somewhat bitter over the fact the retirement age was raised to 67 for my generation before we even had the ability to vote. I turned 18 in 1985 and just six days before my 16th birthday Ronald Reagan signed H.R. 1900 into law.
So not only did I get screwed over by Ronald Reagan, now a bunch of rich men who have likely never done an ounce of backbreaking labor want to tell me I cannot retire until I am 70?
These same men who actually had the balls to say,
[T]he group rejected shoring up Social Security by making incomes above the maximum annual threshold - which in 2012 was $110,100 - subject to payroll taxes, saying that would hurt the economy.
"You would have to raise the base upon which the taxes are applied very substantially to drive a sufficient level of revenue to address the long-term solvency of the program," Loveman said.
"That would be far more damaging to economic growth than what we're asking people to consider," he added. "If you raise the tax rate on people who earn over the current threshold, you'll have an immediate deleterious effect on employment and economic activity."
So the gentlemen of the
Business Roundtable think I should wait until I am 70 to retire; however, they are not going to give one more dime to preserve the solvency of Social Security?
I am going to be quite blunt in my response to the members of the business roundtable. Fuck You! You want the retirement age raised—fine. Get a job as an electrician, plumber, coal miner, truck driver, construction worker, iron worker, etc. and see how long you last in the job. Raising the retirement age is not a fix, and the excuse that you can't raise taxes on those that can afford it because it would slow the economy down ... well, that is absolute and utter bullshit.
Allowing the Business Roundtable an influential seat at the table is is like letting the fox guard the hen house. Do not be fooled the supposed business acumen possessed by these men (and very, very few women) is just that business. They do not have the common person's best interests in mind.