President Biden on Friday fired Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul, a holdover from the Trump administration, after Saul refused a request to resign from his position.
Biden fires head of Social Security Administration — https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/562342-biden-fires-head-of-social-security-administration
There will be more changes coming to social security.
Higher taxes, no doubt. But also improved benefits for those in need if I’m reading the Tarot cards correctly.
A study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that the delayed credit is still about right, with the exception of the highest earners, who tend to outlive actuarial averages and reap the highest extra benefit. Conversely, the group hurt the most are low-income filers, who tend to claim earlier and effectively are overcharged for doing so. Moreover, the increase in FRA from 65 to 67, enacted in the reforms of 1983, effectively increased the penalty for earlier files. Claimers with an FRA of 67 will receive five years of early filing reductions rather than three.
It’s Time to Revisit Social Security’s Early and Delayed Claiming Formulas — https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1029357/its-time-to-revisit-social-securitys-early-and-delayed-claiming-formulas
The first sentence from the above paragraph caught my eye. So I went on to the BC website.
People can claim Social Security from 62 to 70, with adjustments to keep lifetime benefits the same, on average, regardless of claiming age. The question is whether the adjustments, set decades ago, are still correct, given the decline in interest rates and increase in life expectancy. For the average worker, the analysis shows that the reduction for claiming early is currently too large while the increase for claiming late is about right.
Higher earners – who live longer and claim later – get a really good deal under the current system.
Are Social Security’s Actuarial Adjustments Still Correct? — https://crr.bc.edu/briefs/are-social-securitys-actuarial-adjustments-still-correct/
People with more money tend to live longer. People who defer claiming social security benefits until beyond FRA (full retirement age) are generally healthier, expect to live longer, and are financially secure enough to delay claiming. If the SSA decides to enhance benefits for early retirees it would be a good thing for a lot of people, especially those who have been severely impacted by the pandemic.
If you want to live a satisfying, long life, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin has some advice for you: Stay busy. What is the ideal age to retire? Never. Even if you’re physically impaired, it’s best to keep working, either in a job or as a volunteer. Lamont Dozier, the co-writer of such iconic songs as “Heat…
via What is the ideal age to retire? Never, according to a neuroscientist — ideas.ted.com
Rather than relying on mass immigration to fill phantom ‘labour shortages’ – in turn displacing both young and older workers alike – the more sensible policy option is to moderate immigration and instead better utilise the existing workforce as well as use automation to overcome any loss of workers as the population ages – as has been utilised in Japan.
Source: Use Spare Older Workers to Overcome ‘Labour Shortages’ | naked capitalism
The referenced article describes the situation in Australia but is a worthwhile read for those of us in the US.
“Spare older workers”. I like that.
Chuck and Barb found that they had a lot in common with their fellow workers, who came from all corners of the United States. Many had seen their retirement savings vanish in the stock market or had lost homes to foreclosure. Others had watched businesses go under or grappled with unemployment and ageism. A larger number had become full-time RVers or vandwellers because they could no longer afford traditional housing—what they called “sticks and bricks.” They talked about how Social Security wasn’t enough to cover the basic necessities and about the yoke of debt from every imaginable source: medical bills, maxed-out credit cards, even student loans.
Source: What Is CamperForce? Amazon’s Nomadic Retiree Army | WIRED
I was delighted and surprised when I found Nomadland by Jessica Bruder available for loan at my local library. So I downloaded the book and have been reading stories of the forgotten victims of the 2008 financial crisis. I feel lucky and blessed to be where I am at the present time. Life for me could have turned out a lot like the people profiled in this book.
Source: Working Past 70: Americans Can’t Seem to Retire – Bloomberg
Retirement = work.
Staying engaged in life
All of this squares with the experience of Claudia Landau, M.D., Ph.D., chief of geriatrics and palliative care at Highland Hospital in Oakland, Calif, and an associate clinical professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health.
Early in her career she remembers working with a group of World War I veterans, all over the age of 90. Asked to account for their longevity and relatively good health, they cited a common reason: a desire to learn and stay engaged with life. One of them had just started to study Japanese.
“When people feel more engaged and involved, they have more motivation to do other things that will keep them well,” Landau says. Those can include physical exercise, paying attention to their diet, and simply getting out of the house more.
You may already have a sense of purpose in life, but if not, retirement, and the flexibility it provides, offers a wealth of possibilities. And it might pay to pick several of them. In Landau’s experience, “people who develop multiple ways of engaging with the world do the best,” she says.
I hesitated before posting this link. The headline grabs your attention, no? It got my attention for sure. Maybe, just maybe there’s hope for our economy and jobs crisis from the demographics. Then I read the following sentence:
For the purpose of the study, ADP assumed that the average retirement age was 61. Researchers concluded that in many industries, individuals will retire at 61 despite theories suggesting otherwise.
Not gonna happen. Period.
via 18% of the workforce could retire within five years | LifeHealthPro.
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