Senior Citizens-In the US,don't you think?

It's only a proposed way to save the SS system for future generations. As others have said on here it is because people are living longer and many working longer, and because instead of voting Al Gore into office, who wanted to put SS funds in a "lock-box," people voted the Bush administration into office where spent the money in the form of tax rebates, tax reductions, Iraq war, and Financial market bailouts, instead of leaving it alone.

They do this with the Airport user fees as well. Like the SS funds, the Airport user fees are supposed to be used for airport improvements and system upgrades. Billions of dollars of that fund are diverted to other uses by Congress and the President instead of airport safety and border security.

Instead of using the funds for what they were paid in...they are diverted. That's what happened to the Security in the Social Security system. When Bush went into office, it was secure and paid for until the year 2090 even with the projected number of baby boomers who would be retiring. The funds already on hand, and with interest calculations, even without further contributions to the system, it would have been solvent until 2090. Those were part of the "Excess taxes" that Bush said belonged to the people, so he sent most of us a $300 check instead of saving the money for it's intended purpose, and then later diverted funds from it to pay for the Iraq war and bailing out Wall Street as his economic "hands off" policies ended in the near collapse of our economy. Seniors need to really look at their own pocket books when they vote for a candidate instead of being swayed by social, environmental and religious issues like gay marriage, abortion, emission caps, oil drilling and illegal immigration. Incidentally, if those illegal immigrants who are working in this country "off the books" were to be able to work in this country legally...as Bush tried to get done through immigrant work permits...and if employers forced to pay them at least minimum wage with a mandatory deduction for medical care and a surtax for being allowed to work in this country, the SS system would become solvent again in just a few years, even if the bad economy lingered.

Another option would be to raise the federal sales tax a couple of cents, with that money earmarked for SS and Medicare only. Within a few years the funds would recover.

If the recommendations of the study were followed, the retirement age increase would be Phased in over a 20 Year period, by extending the current retirement age of 65 by 2 months per year until 69 is the Main retirement age. So very few of us over 55y would be dramatically affected by it. If it passed tomorrow, it would mean that a 55y old today would have to be 66 and 8 months to retire.

It would not affect anyone already retired.

More troubling is the fact that many companies that still offer pensions are revising their plans to put a cap on how many years you will receive a pension after retiring. Say you retire at 65y and the cap is 20y on the pension...which is what they're trying to get, at 85y your pension would cease. Just when you need it the most and are too old to go back to work.

I think they are but our Congress has squandered the SS money to the point where the system is about bankrupt. We're living in hard times now so things are going to get hard. If the worst thing they did was extend the retirement age to 69, we would be alright. Our medical system used to be the best in the world (but Congress is working on this too) and people are healthier and live longer than they did in previous generations so i guess it's not earth shattering if they look at extending the retirement age. What troubles me is, what else are they going to do to make the system solvent for another ten years? How many benefits will be cut and how much more out of the pocket cost will there be for the retirees?

We hear about "ponsi" deals that bilk people out of billions of dollars and those responsible are sent to prison ,,, well, I think those responsible for bankrupting what was once the most successful government run system in our society should also be held responsible and spend some prison time behind bars because what they have done to SS is truly criminal.

The 69 year old retirement age to receive ss won't affect anyone who is now receiving ss or anyone who is presently paying into ss. It will not be in full effect for about 65 years. Hopefully by then, government will see the light, and allow people to opt out of ss if they want to, and invest their money how they know is best for them and their needs.

It is ONLY a proposal. It has NO effect on current recipients. Also, anyone over age 62 can start receiving Social Security. There is NO law that dictates a person has to be a certain age to receive Social Security. Many older Americans that have lost their jobs, run out of unemployment benefits, run out of savings and investments are now using their Social Security, that's about 2 million Americans. So if you can show you have to have it to survive, you can get it. After all it is YOUR money.

Edit: You "seniors" are supposed to be informed. If you do not know anything about Social Security then why complain and make erroneous statements. Write or email Social Security and ask them about your program and benefits.

If this is the same as Pension schemes. Then it's happening all over the World.

The argument is that people are living longer and there are not enough young people entering the work flow to contribute to the system as it is now. No doubt the contributions in the past have been dipped into by various bodies of government.

I believe ours is aiming for 68,so after 50 yrs of contributing people can hopefully expect a few quality years to receive and enjoy a few quid of their input,doesn't seem fair.

Such schemes need a major overhaul and all contributions ring fenced to protect from the odd department dipping in

I must say again that this was a proposal put out to test the waters, it has the chance of a snowball in hell in making it to Congress. It was this committee's way of throwing a bombshell to start discussions of ways to reduce the deficit. It would not affect anyone currently on SS, in fact the changes would not go into effect until 2050. Please, everyone, calm down with the knee-jerk reactions until we know for sure what's happening.

I don't know why this comes as a shock. The Repos need that money for more oil wars. The lowest was Bush's "No Child Left Behind", with all the money shifted to fund their wars.

That is way too old to start getting any benefits. People with very stressful or physcial jobs will drop like flies before they ever see a penny come back to them. It isn't right.

I think it's sickening that they are trying to raise the age because former presidents and this government does not know how to manage money..How did these guys get the job anyway?...oh yeah..people actually voted for those clowns!

Politicians who are self-serving, corrupt, and greedy for more power know that old people are very expendable. I am still waiting for the time these politicians will put soylent green (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070723/) into law.