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Social Security in the red six years early
When Social Security was first introduced, the retirement age was 65, but the average life expectancy was 62. Bernie Madoff would have been proud.
But now, for the first time in history due to advances in life expectancy, more funds will be paid out in Social Security benefits than are received in Social Security taxes. This was projected to happen no earlier than 2016 (that was the worst case scenario) but due to the downturn in the economy and more people retiring than expected, we've hit that landmark point in 2010.
There are a number of ways to fix this (increase Social Security taxes, change the retirement age, etc.) but none of them is likely to get enacted by the current Congress. The divisive political landscape we traverse these days means that important measures that are fiscally and socially necessary get tossed around like a political football. And that is bad for liberals and conservatives alike.
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Lead me not into temptation ... follow me, I know a shortcut!
As the poets have mournfully sung,
death takes the innocent young,
the rolling in money,
the screamingly funny,
and those who are very well hung.
Your days are numbered - 26,280 per person on average - 2,000,000,000 heartbeats ... tick, tick, tick
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