A few years ago, I remember having a conversation with my father about social security. The age of retirement was being raised, or planned to be raised, to 70. My father was born in 1948. I was born in 1969.
So he says to me that we might just have to raise the retirement age, 'cause why not?
At the time I accepted this. But I'm 40 now. Retirement is not imminent, but "retired" is a word I can imagine being after my name, now that I'm officially over the hill.
I have worked for 15 years. For the last 10 of those years I have made more money than my father ever did. I have PAID into the Social Security fund. I EXPECT to get the deal I signed onto.
Me working another 30 years before I can claim my benefits is, in a word, unacceptable. It's a cram-down being foisted on me by the Baby Boomer generation and I am not having it. Neither should anyone else under the age of 50.
First of all, let's dispense with the idiocy: there is no crisis with Social Security that cannot be solved without screwing the people who make the system work in the first place.
The taxation of income for the Social Security program ends at $109k, roughly. Since 85% of the money in this country is made by people who make more than 109k, it would seem very simple to do as most money-gathering ventures and GO WHERE THE MONEY IS.
Rather than taxing the bottom 15% of the nation's income, we could start taxing ALL of the nation's income and solve most of our budget problems. Including social security.
But I want to register my unwavering opposition to forcing me to work until 70 (or more likely be laid off at 55 and work at Taco Bell for 15 years while I wait for my Social Security benefits to kick in).
Those who have it: don't lambast me for not having a retirement fund at 40. Anybody who tried to build up their retirement in the last 10 years will just laugh bitterly in your face. When the fuck was I supposed to build a retirement plan? Before or after the Dow took my initial retirement plan down with it? Before or after my company quit putting my fucking retirement money into company stock (which then lost ALL value at one point)?
The fact is, this is a cram-down pure and simple. The reckless imbeciles like Ronald Reagan and Bush Senior and Bush Junior ran up those deficits and those individuals wreaked havoc with our treasury and economy. I AM NOT PAYING for those mistakes.
If the political will to raise taxes above the self-imposed cap of $109k can't be found, then GenXers and younger need to start pushing back on the whole "retirement age" thing. If Social Security is broke NOW, and it can't be fixed with taxes NOW, then it is my opinion that the cram-down has to start NOW. Boomers can share in the pain. You all can retire at 70, ALSO.
This is a matter of simple fairness. I did not get a chance to vote for or against the massive deficits incurred under Ronald Reagan, and I was just on the cusp of being able to vote for Bush the Elder, and we all know what happened with Bush the Lesser. If someone is going to have to pay for those deficits, it needs to be EVERYONE who participated in the economy during those times. Not just the kids who are just now beginning to speak out.
This isn't a negotiation. The circumstance I am being offered as a taxpayer is unacceptable.