Post by jeffolie on Mar 18, 2011 12:54:17 GMT -6
The world is not fair and there is little justice in the Justice System.
The retirement world is not fair and there is little justice in the Retirement System.
Those that got retirements had a good run.
Those that want retirements wil not get a good run.
============================================
March 17, 2011
The Game Plan
Given demographic realities (e.g., America's aging population) and the fiscal bind our government (and corrupt interests in the private sector) have gotten us into, it's apparent (to me, at least) that things are headed in only one direction as far as retirement-related promises are concerned.
Whether we like it or not, we can expect to see growing (and intense) efforts to rein in the costs of and boost the revenues that help pay for these entitlement programs. While it is hard to say which will be the most "successful" (or, for that matter, the most contentious), recent reports essentially describe the game plan. The three-pronged approach will include efforts to:
1. Slash benefits and restrict eligibility through means tests --
"GOP Senators Threaten No Vote on Debt Ceiling" (Politico)
Twenty-two Republicans senators are threatening to vote against raising the debt ceiling later this year unless the president concedes to cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the current budget negotiations.
“Strong leadership is needed now to advance possible solutions to ensure that our entitlement programs can serve both current and future generations. Without action to begin addressing the deficit, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for us to support a further increase in the debt ceiling,” wrote Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) in the letter, obtained by POLITICO.
Congressional leaders are expected to confront the country’s fiscal issues head-on in the coming weeks, when they’ll vote on a budget for the rest of the year and whether to raise the debt ceiling in May.
But the group of almost two dozen GOP senators are withholding their vote to raise the debt ceiling until, as Coats writes, President Barack Obama exhibits the same leadership that former President Ronald Reagan and then House Speaker Tip O’Neill in 1983 when they tackled Social Security reform.
2. Raise the retirement age --
"OECD Calls for Rapid Rise in Retirement Age" (Financial Times)
Governments must move quickly to raise the retirement age beyond 65 and scrap the barriers that keep older people out of the workforce if national pension systems are to remain both adequate and financially sustainable, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned.
In a report released on Thursday, the OECD says that life expectancy in much of the industrialised world has already risen much faster than the planned increases in the age at which most citizens are allowed to draw their pensions from the state.
The OECD’s “Pensions At A Glance 2011” report noted that by 2050, the average state retirement age would reach 65 for both men and women, a rise on average of 1.5 years for men and 2.5 years for women.
But life expectancy has already risen by an average of 2.0 years for men and 1.5 years for women, so that even existing reforms are insufficient.
“Further reforms are needed that are both fiscally and socially responsible,” said Angel Gurria, OECD secretary-general. “We cannot risk a resurgence of old-age poverty in the future. This risk is heightened by growing earnings inequality in many countries, which will feed into growing inequality in retirement.”
3. Implement and increase taxes on payouts --
"Retirees See Pension Tax as Attack on Middle Class" (Associated Press)
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is drawing recall threats and angry protests over his attempt to do what no Michigan governor has tried in more than 40 years: Tax the pension and 401(k) incomes of millions of retirees.
The move has brought demonstrators to the Capitol and has thousands of seniors reminding the new governor that they could make re-election difficult for him and lawmakers who go along. Democrats oppose the move, and even some GOP lawmakers are casting about for an alternative to avoid raising taxes on a powerful interest group.
Snyder remains undeterred. The multimillionaire former Gateway computer executive says Michigan — which has some of the nation's most generous senior tax breaks— can't afford the $900 million it loses because of them, and that retirees need to pay their share rather than pushing the burden onto younger residents
www.financialarmageddon.com/
The retirement world is not fair and there is little justice in the Retirement System.
Those that got retirements had a good run.
Those that want retirements wil not get a good run.
============================================
March 17, 2011
The Game Plan
Given demographic realities (e.g., America's aging population) and the fiscal bind our government (and corrupt interests in the private sector) have gotten us into, it's apparent (to me, at least) that things are headed in only one direction as far as retirement-related promises are concerned.
Whether we like it or not, we can expect to see growing (and intense) efforts to rein in the costs of and boost the revenues that help pay for these entitlement programs. While it is hard to say which will be the most "successful" (or, for that matter, the most contentious), recent reports essentially describe the game plan. The three-pronged approach will include efforts to:
1. Slash benefits and restrict eligibility through means tests --
"GOP Senators Threaten No Vote on Debt Ceiling" (Politico)
Twenty-two Republicans senators are threatening to vote against raising the debt ceiling later this year unless the president concedes to cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the current budget negotiations.
“Strong leadership is needed now to advance possible solutions to ensure that our entitlement programs can serve both current and future generations. Without action to begin addressing the deficit, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for us to support a further increase in the debt ceiling,” wrote Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) in the letter, obtained by POLITICO.
Congressional leaders are expected to confront the country’s fiscal issues head-on in the coming weeks, when they’ll vote on a budget for the rest of the year and whether to raise the debt ceiling in May.
But the group of almost two dozen GOP senators are withholding their vote to raise the debt ceiling until, as Coats writes, President Barack Obama exhibits the same leadership that former President Ronald Reagan and then House Speaker Tip O’Neill in 1983 when they tackled Social Security reform.
2. Raise the retirement age --
"OECD Calls for Rapid Rise in Retirement Age" (Financial Times)
Governments must move quickly to raise the retirement age beyond 65 and scrap the barriers that keep older people out of the workforce if national pension systems are to remain both adequate and financially sustainable, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned.
In a report released on Thursday, the OECD says that life expectancy in much of the industrialised world has already risen much faster than the planned increases in the age at which most citizens are allowed to draw their pensions from the state.
The OECD’s “Pensions At A Glance 2011” report noted that by 2050, the average state retirement age would reach 65 for both men and women, a rise on average of 1.5 years for men and 2.5 years for women.
But life expectancy has already risen by an average of 2.0 years for men and 1.5 years for women, so that even existing reforms are insufficient.
“Further reforms are needed that are both fiscally and socially responsible,” said Angel Gurria, OECD secretary-general. “We cannot risk a resurgence of old-age poverty in the future. This risk is heightened by growing earnings inequality in many countries, which will feed into growing inequality in retirement.”
3. Implement and increase taxes on payouts --
"Retirees See Pension Tax as Attack on Middle Class" (Associated Press)
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is drawing recall threats and angry protests over his attempt to do what no Michigan governor has tried in more than 40 years: Tax the pension and 401(k) incomes of millions of retirees.
The move has brought demonstrators to the Capitol and has thousands of seniors reminding the new governor that they could make re-election difficult for him and lawmakers who go along. Democrats oppose the move, and even some GOP lawmakers are casting about for an alternative to avoid raising taxes on a powerful interest group.
Snyder remains undeterred. The multimillionaire former Gateway computer executive says Michigan — which has some of the nation's most generous senior tax breaks— can't afford the $900 million it loses because of them, and that retirees need to pay their share rather than pushing the burden onto younger residents
www.financialarmageddon.com/