Maybe I am crazy. Am I the only one who thinks the first step of Social Security reform has to involve raising the retirement age? I’m not saying we raise it tomorrow, but we need to accept the idea that younger taxpayers will not get their social security checks at 62 or 65.

I am 35 years old and I fully expect Social Security to go belly up before I ever reach retirement age. It’s my fate to pay into the system for 40+ years and get nothing when it’s my time to collect. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think most people my age feel this way. So why not tell me I can start collecting benefits at 75 instead of 65? If my expectations are already so incredibly low, then what’s the harm? You are already giving more than I thought I would otherwise get.

If we told workers age 55 and lower that they would have to retire a little later and scaled up the retirement age every few years until it was closer to the average life expectancy, then it would be very easy to keep the trust fund solvent. Heck, we could probably start scaling back the social security tax rate at some point.

What’s the downside of my proposal? Workers in many industries such as welders or electricians or janitors could not do the same job at 74 years of age. If you listen to their union advocates on C-Span you would think many of these people could not do that job at age 60 and this should be justification for their early retirement and receipt of social security benefits.

So how do you handle people who work in occupations that wear out their bodies before age 75? Actually you have a few options. Maybe you follow the example of workers compensation and charge a higher social security tax rate for certain occupational codes as an offset for the higher benefits they will claim by retiring early. Maybe you create a government-sponsored job placement agency that resettles an aging welder who did not save for his retirement into a job in the retail or service industries? Maybe you offer tax incentives to companies who hire workers aged 65-74?

Regardless of how we handle it, we have to get back to the system as FDR created it and intended it to be. That means gradually bringing the retirement age to a point that is very close to the average life expectancy. Its either that or saddle our kids with a tax burden they do not deserve.

1. Federal Obligation
Congress must maintain the present FICA tax level and must meet the current Social Security obligations.

2. Privatization of Benefits
(a) Federal Investments
Congress must prohibit the government of the United States from investing any revenue derived from FICA taxes in any investment other than bonds and securities of the United States.

(b) Individual Retirement Accounts
Congress should immediately grant tax credits to employers who contribute to an employee retirement account providing that no tax credit exceeds two thousand dollars per year for each employee. The retirement accounts shall be owned by the employees and shall be transferable between employers. Congress shall levy a forty- percent tax on any funds withdrawn from any account prior to twenty years after the date on which the account was created except in cases where mental or physical disability prevents the account's owner from having gainful employment or the death of the account owner requires the account to devolve upon the owner's estate. No tax may be levied on funds withdrawn after twenty years, but Social Security benefits may be reduced in an amount equal to the amount withdrawn from the retirement account.