The Social Security Act was put in place in 1935. At that time, less than 8% of the population was over the age of 65 and the typical 65 year old could expect to live 12 more years. Today, over 12% of the population is over 65 and today’s typical 65 year old can expect to live over 18 more years. By 2050 nearly 20% of the population will be over 65 years old.
By looking at the demographic data as given by the US Census, it is very easy to see why there are such large budget deficits ahead due to health care and social security benefits. These are the two gorillas on the US Government’s balance sheet.
Babies being replaced by old babies.
Now I can split my time between working for the government and working for my adopted grandparent!
The fix is rather simple if the greed within the system was ever stifled. As average longevity increases, benefits should decline in lockstep. The government should have adjusted the program’s qualifying retirement age to make sure that the program covered less than 10% of the population. The propagated fallacy is that since people in the past have paid into the system during their whole careers they feel that they should get the same benefits as their parents. Fine, then we will just have to euthanize you at the average age of death 50 years ago… Tit for tat.
In addition, the chart below shows just how expensive old people are…
Health expenses explode after age 65.
