After increasing the retirement age based on birth year a dozen times for those born between the years of 1937 and 1960, the retirement age has remained the same for anyone born since 1960. This has prompted Congress to consider raising the retirement age again. While some may recoil at the notion, there are pluses to raising the retirement age, according to Forbes.com contributor Chris Carosa.
“The advantage of increasing the normal retirement age is to keep Social Security solvent for more retirees for longer,” says Emily C. Rassam, senior financial planner at Archer Investment Management in Charlotte, North Carolina. “There are several potential ways to fix the Social Security system. In short, they involve increasing revenue or decreasing distributions. If the Normal Retirement Age increases again, it will decrease total lifetime payouts for retirees, especially those who start collecting income early.”