Thursday, March 3, 2011

Another Social Security means test

When saving Social Security gets discussed, it's often means testing - limiting benefits for the richest retirees.
But the demographic problem that dooms Social Security comes from the lack of young workers to pay for current and future retirees.
How about means testing by the number of kids you have and support?
No kids - wait until 75 to retire. And the age drops three years for each child you have and support to adulthood.
Two kids - retire at 69.
Six kids, like the Other McCain? - you can retire at 57.
Ten kids? You can retire at 45, if you're done with the kids by then (both my grandfathers had children when they were 45).
Why not let people with more kids retire early? They have produced the next generation to pay the bills.
It might be too late to save Social Security. But the future belongs to the fertile.

3 comments:

jill said...

I like that -- "the future belongs to the fertile." By your method my husband could have retired last month at age 54.

The more I think about it the more I wonder why we look to the government to pay for our retirement. We didn't know we'd get old someday?

Joel said...

Woohoo! I can retire at 51!

Nikolai said...

Sure. I have no kids but also my parents died while I was in my early 2o's. Therefore by your reasoning, the money that my employers and I paid into SS should be returned to me, with interest and you can keep your so called Social Security.