As life expectancies continue to climb, not just in the U.S. but around the world, we see the governments of many countries raising the age of retirement, much to the dismay of citizens. In fact, France recently made international headlines when there was great rioting in the streets at the announcement the retirement age would be adjusted from 60 to 62; this has also happened elsewhere in the world.
Clearly, citizens are outraged and believe their government or employers owe them a pension–a guaranteed income stream they can never outlive, beginning at age 60.
Longer lives mean more expenses
The truth is, however, when these plans were first created as public benefits or corporate perks for employees, the life expectancy was not much more than 60 or 65. There is great irony in the fact that as lifestyle improvements, like nutrition, have come to be and have extended the quality and length of our lives, so many people are willing to wreak havoc in the streets over the idea of being required to work two additional years. Working slightly longer can help the next generation maintain some sort of fiscal solvency–who could argue with that?
