Reply #4: It's certainly not a popular idea.....

[Uben]

...but something has to be done. Merely raising the cap will not provide the funding needed for SSI. People are living longer so it stands to logic that raising the age will have to happen at some point. With boomers retiring, we are down to three people paying for each retiree. The numbers just don't add up. I have seen people post here that think merely raising or eliminating the cap will do the job. It won't even come close. It may put the collapse of the system off a few years, but falls way short of solving the crisis.

Today's politicians are scumbags. They do not do the job they were elected to do, they do whatever will get them re-elected. Not a one of them want to touch the SSI issue, fearing it's the "kiss of death". We all want to retire as early as possible. The prospect of working into your seventies really sucks. Who the hell is going to hire a seventy yr old for anything other than a greeter or a clerk?

If they raise the eligibility age, they will have to do something in the way of incentives to employers to hire older workers. Eliminating employer subsidized healthcare and going to a universal healthcare program would help ease the problem.

The government never promised to take care of you in your old age, they only promise to help. That means people are going to have to save their own money for retirement. If you don't, you will never be able to retire and live anywhere close to comfortable.
So many people live for today, never taking into consideration they might actually live past seventy, but stats show most will.
In 30 or so yrs, we are going to see a population of elderly poor and there will be nothing in place to help them. The only real solution is to raise taxes back to where they were in the sixties. The wealthy will have to kick in a lot more than they are now. The problem with that is that the wealthy have the money to lobby congress, the rest of us be damned!

I have been frugal my entire life. I have never owned a new car or taken a lavish vacation. In fact, I have only taken one vacation in the past ten yrs, and that was for one week. I have the money, but fear I will need it later on. I see it as trading a few memories for a better diet and better living conditions in my old age, when I'll need it most.

Okay, you guys can pile on now!