Lower Social Security Eligibility to 55; Raise Benefits By 15%

[Bluenorthwest]

56. Where did you get this 'force people to retire' meme?

Not everyone is without other income for retirement. Many people would like the option of taking it earlier, because they can afford to do so if the Medicare and Social Security are in place. Many need only think of the Medicare, for they have plenty of money and income.
As it stands now, additional work income while getting Social Security leads to paying more and more tax on your Social Security income, so the 'just keep working and collecting' paradigm you suggest is not really all that simple. Enough 'extra work' and you zero out your benefit for that year via tax. So it is not 'on top of' at all. Retired people pay income taxes. Social Security benefits are taxed as income.
So giving the OPTION of retirement at an earlier age, those who could afford it could take it, and those who do not or simply don't want to take it simply would keep working until they wanted to retire. Assuming everyone is in the worst boat with just SS income is just not accurate at all. Sure people say 'all pensions are gone' but that is not actually the case many people still get pensions, own property, get royalties, you name it. The people who'd opt for early retirement would be those who either need it health wise or who can afford it financially. Because 'eligible' does not mean 'required to' it means 'qualified to'.