Would a $15 minimum wage cause retired people financial ruin?

I don't think anyone deserves $15 for a hamburger flipping job. Those folks that apply themselves in their education and have the ambition to do what is needed deserve the better pay. Sure it's tough to live on minimum wage but when you choose to drop out of school or not apply yourself, it is a life determining decision. I'm the one on here urging everyone to go to college and make a better rest of their lives. I get upset with kids on here that say it is too tough and math...just don't get it. Anyone can learn anything. You have to do your homework and then an amount of studying so that you understand what you are learning. It is just that simple. Whata great jumpin minimum wage would do for me is make prices go up, make the money I've saved over a life time have considerably less purchasing power and since I'm not rich, yes, it would hurt. I see that most people on here don't get it and the answers show why more people need to be educated. If anyone thinks you can live even slightly decently on SS and the little raises they give, they are crazy. And for Kate who needs it explained. Money gets devalued and you end up in the same place as you were before because employers have to raise prices to pay the wages. As the prices go up and the economy adjusts, you end up with the same purchasing power as you had before so you are no better off. Those of us who have worked for a life time end up with savings that are worth much less and the interest rate is so low that savings dwindle anyway. Who it punishes are those folks that have done the right thing and got an education or worked their way up. They now make a tad over you and for all of their efforts they end up lving like you. That isn't fair. And us seniors take a hit and anyone on here that doesn't get it...well....what can I say....

well how long will you be a senior citizen before you go to a nursing home where you don't need a lot of your own things anymore and you'll be without a vehicle. It's the in-between age when people have only SSretirement benefits which may be very low, and those on SSretirement benefits where they are living on their own, that are going to have it tough, starting to have it tough because the cost of everything is rising.

$15 an hour is too much and they want it raised because of the technology age which has given people who probably should earn an average of $45,000 a year a higher wage of $65,000 plus. There's something wrong with their payscale and not that of the worker at MacDonalds. Can you decrease the tech's income? probably not. Maybe part of the answer is getting more middle class jobs. Maybe more manufacturing will return from China.

I would be rough on a fixed income person. Soon the other workers would be demanding raises so after a short lag all wages would go up. Most seniors aren't fixed income any more but COLAs lag a year or two so a short term problem and they may not cover all inflation.

One major price increase would be nursing homes and other caregivers who are paid minimum wage. Some of us hire people to do work we can't or don't want to do now and they would need paid more. I pay mine $10 an hour now which is more than minimum a few cents I think minimum is 9.32 so I might need to pay him $16. I might not want to pay that much and let him go.

Inflation is not caused by an increase in wages. There is no county or state that currently has a living wage of $15. The only one is Seattle which has incremental raise over the next few years and in those few years the COLA from Social Security will help to make up for any price increase of products which you assume will occur from higher wages. We in the U.S. have had only 2% inflation for quite a few years.

Most small businesses already pay this much or more. The big food giants can easily pay $20 without negatively affecting their bottom line. Seniors that MUST work, are the most likely to benefit from an increased minimum wage. Places where a high minimum wage as been in place have experienced an increase in sales, both in gross income and volume. If any employer must raise his or her prices due to a higher minimum wage, it was a poorly run business to start with and wouldn't have been around for much longer. The food giants often raise prices out of spite, but loss of sales force them back into line with the more ethical businesses.

Any one against paying enough to live, on is either self centered, or uninformed.

No. Just take a little time to see: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/04/fair-...

And: http://www.fairwork.gov.au/Pay/minimum-wages

THAT is how the United States should be. They don't have older people worrying about trying to exist like they do here! And - ALL people there - earn a LIVING wage..!! Beautiful Australia..

There would be quite a time-lag between inflation and adjustment of SS retirement benefits - - and then, the SS would not go-up as much as the rate of inflation (the "Administration" capriciously fiddles with what expenses are included in the SS cost-of-living computations to artificially hold-down SS increases).

Of course, many retirees who worked in a union environment (such as many school teachers) have contracts which increase their retirement benefit whenever the active workers get a raise, so they will be happy.

It might make things tougher for retirees trying to live off SS income alone. The COLA system for those retirees is grossly unfair. It doesn't include increases in energy and health care costs, two items that older people need but find it increasingly difficult to pay for. I believe that as we grow older, even though many of us have pensions as well as SS, we will not be able to afford nursing home care if required.

$15 minimum wage would do enormous damage to the entire nation, not just to Seniors. Those advocating this garbage have no idea how an economy works and what liberty is. I would rather be a free man then have my lazy neighbor steal from me so they can glut themselves from my labors.

Yes, it will be extremely hard on a senior, allot harder than it is now. But, the minimum wage doesn't need to be that high. If there were more jobs, the people making minimum could try to get a better job. But traditionally a preson earning minimum is a cast off that isn't employable elsewhere, that's not the case now, and that is why we need more jobs not a higher minimum wage, and you won't get that until the Republicans get off their fat asse$ and get something done.