Comments on: The Retirement Age http://hispanicpundit.com/2010/09/07/the-retirement-age/ Fri, 25 May 2012 14:11:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Jon http://hispanicpundit.com/2010/09/07/the-retirement-age/#comment-247347 Jon Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:29:25 +0000 http://hispanicpundit.com/2010/09/07/the-retirement-age/#comment-247347 Reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q Reminds me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q

]]> By: HispanicPundit http://hispanicpundit.com/2010/09/07/the-retirement-age/#comment-246806 HispanicPundit Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:16:10 +0000 http://hispanicpundit.com/2010/09/07/the-retirement-age/#comment-246806 I would prefer the former. I enjoy that year end bonus...and will spend it better than the government would. :-) Seriously though, pegging the "retirement age" to changes in life expectancy is not really changing social security - it's merely keeping it up to date with the times. Whereas increasing the maximum cap is indeed a fundamental change, and I would argue, for the worse. I would prefer the former. I enjoy that year end bonus…and will spend it better than the government would. :-)

Seriously though, pegging the “retirement age” to changes in life expectancy is not really changing social security - it’s merely keeping it up to date with the times.

Whereas increasing the maximum cap is indeed a fundamental change, and I would argue, for the worse.

]]> By: LaurenceB` http://hispanicpundit.com/2010/09/07/the-retirement-age/#comment-246753 LaurenceB` Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:36:12 +0000 http://hispanicpundit.com/2010/09/07/the-retirement-age/#comment-246753 I remember a point in my life, a long time ago, when I discovered that I had graduated into a higher income tax bracket and around November - voila! - my taxes were cut and my paycheck got bigger! "Strange", I thought. I didn't think it worked that way. It turns out I had passed the maximum threshold for social security contributions. Cool! And ever since then, every year I look forward to that wonderful time of year when my paycheck (and those of millions of other well compensated Americans) suddenly gets much larger. As much as I enjoy it though, I can't help but wonder why it even exists. Is it really necessary to provide what is essentially a tax cut to the better off? And if we got rid of that maximum annual contribution how far would that go to resolving the future fiscal problems with Social Security? I guess my point is that given the choice - increasing the retirement age to bolster Social Security coffers, or simply doing away with the maximum annual contribution to accomplish the same purpose, I would definitely prefer the latter. I remember a point in my life, a long time ago, when I discovered that I had graduated into a higher income tax bracket and around November - voila! - my taxes were cut and my paycheck got bigger!

“Strange”, I thought. I didn’t think it worked that way.

It turns out I had passed the maximum threshold for social security contributions. Cool! And ever since then, every year I look forward to that wonderful time of year when my paycheck (and those of millions of other well compensated Americans) suddenly gets much larger.

As much as I enjoy it though, I can’t help but wonder why it even exists. Is it really necessary to provide what is essentially a tax cut to the better off? And if we got rid of that maximum annual contribution how far would that go to resolving the future fiscal problems with Social Security?

I guess my point is that given the choice - increasing the retirement age to bolster Social Security coffers, or simply doing away with the maximum annual contribution to accomplish the same purpose, I would definitely prefer the latter.

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