The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think group, has suggested raising the retirement age to 70 as a method to strengthen Social Security in light of impending changes to the programme.
In a foundation essay, senior research scholar Rachel Greszler of the Roe Institute argued in favour of this proposal, arguing that raising the age of eligibility for Social Security benefits
Would assist address the impending funding issue facing the Social Security Administration (SSA).
The largest benefits programme in the United States, which covers retirees, survivors, and handicapped adults, is expected to run out of trust funds by 2035 unless Congress takes action to maintain its solvency, according to the SSA’s 2023 Trustees Report, which was released earlier this year.
Greszler proposed in her paper to tie future adjustments to life expectancy, progressively extending the typical retirement age from 67 to 69 or 70, with an increase of one or two months every year.
Greszler asserts that “longer life expectancies, better healthcare, and a move away from physically demanding work” suggest that a growing number of elderly Americans are now more capable of remaining in the workforce for extended periods of time.
This may assist close the impending Social Security funding gap, she contended.
She also mentioned that there might be benefits to keeping elderly workers employed in addition to Social Security’s budget stabilisation.
The advantages of older workers continuing in the workforce go beyond Social Security’s financial stability and the extra money that Americans would make.
Younger employees benefit greatly from the knowledge and expertise of more seasoned employees, as well as their mentorship.
Furthermore, rather than quitting their jobs suddenly, older individuals have more options in today’s labour market to gradually transition into retirement.
Greszler conceded that just increasing the retirement age would not completely address the looming budgetary issues facing the Social Security programme. Rather, she stated that it could only cover roughly 20 to 30 percent of the predicted shortage by 2035.
Although raising the retirement age for Social Security is a crucial reform, it would only address 20% to 30% of the program’s shortcomings.
An additional 20 to 25 percent of the program’s shortcomings could be resolved with a more precise inflation adjustment.
Other experts’ take on the Social Security funding crisis
The plan may not be supported by other authorities on financial policy and Social Security. According to RetireGuide.com lead financial expert Stephen Kates, raising the eligibility age is “a backwards way of simplifying reducing benefits.
Kates made the observation that raising the full retirement age of 67 or the earliest eligibility age of 62 would result in lesser and delayed benefits for retirees in the future, without specifically addressing Greszler’s piece.
He clarified that, as of right now, individuals who begin drawing Social Security at age 62 often experience a 30% monthly payment cut as opposed to waiting until age 67, which is the full retirement age for those born after 1959.
Raising the Social Security retirement age would essentially decrease payments by the same amount as the benefit reductions anticipated in the 2030s, according to the Centre for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), provided that legislative action is not done to assure funds.
Senior researcher at Media Matters Zachary Pleat had concerns about the Heritage Foundation’s suggestion as well.
Referencing Project 2025, an endeavour run by the Heritage Foundation that intends to build a conservative coalition for a future administration beginning in January 2025, he connected this policy advice to a larger political objective.
Pleat stated, “The Heritage Foundation is now calling for the Social Security retirement age to be raised to 70.
This organisation has played a central role in organising the planned radical takeover of the federal government known as Project 2025 for the next Republican president.”
As stated in its description, Project 2025 is a coalition of conservative organisations working to guarantee that a new conservative administration is prepared to take office in January 2025.
Critics see this proposal to increase the Social Security retirement age as a component of a larger ideological movement to reorganise important government programmes and services.
