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The ongoing debate over retirement age has become a big topic this election year. Joe Biden and Donald Trump have talked about Social Security and whether to lower the retirement age.
Voter Opinions
It’s a popular topic among the candidates for good reason — it’s one of the issues voters have said is important to them. In fact, according to research from Atticus, “79% of working Americans said a candidate’s stance on Social Security will influence their votes in the upcoming election.”
Further, 47% said they would vote for a candidate advocating to lower the retirement age. Biden and Trump have talked about the retirement age and concerns about the future of Social Security.
Positive Impacts
Let’s start with the positive. According to Brandon Gregg, an advisor and market president with BBK Wealth Management, there are many obvious reasons why many Americans want to lower the retirement age. Those include allowing some workers to retire earlier than expected for more time to enjoy retirement and providing more freedom for workers in their later years to pursue a career change.
Negative Impacts
However, one big sticking point is the already uncertain future of the Social Security program. According to a report from the Social Security trustees board in May, the agency’s reserves will run out in 2035. Unless Congress takes action, recipients will then only receive 83% of their full benefits.
Such a large cut could severely impact the millions of people who rely on Social Security benefits for money to live in retirement. Workers and employers fund Social Security through payroll tax deductions.
Money and the Workforce
As you can imagine, lowering the retirement age and allowing more people to participate in the program would require much more money to fund Social Security. In addition, having more workers retire early would be a challenge for companies and the American workforce.
According to Gregg, “More folks taking earlier retirement would only add to the problem of Social Security assets running out sooner, and a large influx of earlier retirees would impact the workforce as a whole.”
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