Raising the Retirement Age is a Benefit Cut, CBO Finds

Raising the Retirement Age is a Benefit Cut, CBO Finds

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report showing that raising the Social Security retirement age to 69-as House Republicans have proposed-would slash benefits for hardworking retirees.The report finds that Social Security benefits would be cut by an average of 13 percent if the Republicans' plan were fully implemented.

"Raising the retirement age is a benefit cut, as CBO has made crystal clear" said Senate Budget Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). "With Social Security facing a looming solvency problem, there are mathematically only two choices to address the shortfall: raise revenues or cut benefits. The promise of Social Security is a promise we cannot break, and by making the wealthy pay their fair share, we can protect Social Security forever. My Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act would unrig our tax code and shore up this bedrock of the American retirement system as far as the actuarial eye can see-all with zero cuts to benefits. But House Republicans would rather slash benefits than make their megadonors pay up, and for their part, Senate Republicans have put forward no concrete plans."

"Republicans who want to raise the retirement age for Social Security should look carefully at data like this before forcing older Americans to wait even longer for their earned benefits," said Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR). "Raising the retirement age is a cruel idea that ought to be banished from public debate forever. The fact of the matter is Social Security can be saved for the next generation and beyond simply by asking wealthy Americans to pay their fair share in taxes, not depriving working Americans of their earned benefits."

According to CBO, anyone born after 1971 would see their benefits cut an average of 13 percent. Moreover, raising the retirement age would not change the year Social Security would go insolvent.

The Social Security and Medicare actuaries found that Budget Chairman Whitehouse's Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act would make the respective programs solvent in perpetuity by raising taxes on households making over $400,000.

The current budget proposed by the Republican Study Committee, which represents 80 percent of House Republicans, calls for $1.5 trillion in cuts to Social Security benefits over the next 10 years. It would reduce benefits for seniors and raise the retirement age to 69, which would especially hurt low-income retirees.

Read the full CBO report here.