News: Time to raise retirement age?

The good job you and other physicians are doing to increase the life expectancy of patients has a downside: Social Security may wind up on life support. Part of the solution may be to increase the retirement age to reflect this greater longevity. "Long after all the baby boomers have departed, Social Security's income will cover only about three-fourths of its costs," says Tom Terry, vice president of pension issues for the American Academy of Actuaries. The normal retirement age has been increased only once, from age 65 to 67, despite fairly sizable jumps in life expectancy since Social Security's inception in 1935. Quoting actuaries from the Social Security Administration, the academy said that by 2040, men age 65 could be living another 18.8 years on average, while women could live an additional 20.9 years.