Has nothing to do with COLA increases in SS
I'm sure it does. Many times representatives use increases to buy votes. But that's not really possible now because it's simply not there.
Now they are scrambling to figure out a way to make SS solvent. The two ideas that are frequently tossed around are ceiling lifts and a later retirement age.
Ceiling lifts are only another tax on the wealthy, and increasing retirement age only works for a segment of labor. The people making such suggestions are the ones holding a microphone in front of the television or radio. But there are many occupations where that's not feasible.
You don't want to picture a 68 year old guy carrying shingles up a ladder to the roofer, or even a 68 year old roofer for that matter. How about the guy that empties out your garbage cans, or the road construction workers? Lawn maintenance is fine for younger folks, but what senior citizen is going to struggle in that hot sun day in and day out? I'll even take my occupation for instance. Do you want to be the vehicle in front of me when traffic comes to a sudden stop and I'm piloting a 75,000 lbs tractor-trailer at 67 years old?
If you are in an occupation where you can't physically perform after age 60, you need to make other plans not require everyone else to retire younger because you can no longer cut it
That's what I was doing. As a senior design engineer, the younger guys kept telling me to let them help when it came to building prototypes.
So I told the company I was going to retire at the end of the year. I didn't want them to give me a two year project and then I leave after 6 months with everyone else holding the bag.
So I got fired. And it was a blessing. I was just going to leave, but now, unexpectedly, 30 weeks full pay and health insurance. And unemployment I decided not to apply for. I was afraid they would try to get me a job.
Because I got fired, I didn't have to go through a long process of knowledge transfer. And I took all the patents off the wall since they were all mine. They asked if I would leave them so it wouldn't be empty, but I just laughed.
I thanked HR and told her I was going to dance out of the building. She said she was shocked. That I was the first one that didn't cry.
And because I was fired, they aren't supposed to call me with questions, but they have. I told them they should get the boss to call me so they don't get into trouble. That means no more calls.
I can't believe how lucky I am and how well this has worked out.
