We should not raise the retirement age to 70 for Social Security.
While we are living longer than the system ever expected, our bodies and minds have limits that come with age. Rather than raising the retirement age to 70, we should pay for the benefit with one or both of the following remedies.
• Lift the cap on taxable income so that all earners contribute from their full annual income rather than the current $160,200 limit.
• Establish a new and higher monthly benefit incentive to postpone drawing their benefit for those age 75 and older. Currently, if you retire at age 62 in 2023, your maximum benefit would be $2,572 and at age 67 the full retirement monthly benefit is $3,627. But if you retire at age 70 in 2023, your maximum benefit would be $4,555. Let’s increase the amount to $5,500 per month if you draw benefits starting at 75. The number of people who can draw on other retirement savings before touching Social Security would certainly give relief to the fund’s payout.
We can keep the full retirement age at 67 if everyone pays their fair share and if we create incentives to postpone drawing benefits.
Tony Payne
Yarmouth
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