Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, is proposing to raise the minimum age for most workers in the Wisconsin Retirement System from 55 to 57, or 52 from 50 for those in protective services jobs.
A second bill would say retirement payouts would be calculated on the top five years of an employees’ work, rather than the three years considered currently.
“Look at the private sector. Who even has a pension anymore, let alone the ability to retire at 50?” Stroebel said. “It just isn’t out there.”
Stroebel said while the WRS is considered fully funded currently, he believes it could help the future solvency of the trust fund.
“We have to be ahead of the curve on these things, and I don’t think anyone would consider these changes unreasonable whatsoever,” Stroebel said.
Whenever retirement ages are discussed, whether it is for Social Security, public employees, or private employees who still have a pension, I am always amazed at the ridiculousness of the objections. The only reason to oppose raising the retirement age is because you want to retire earlier rather than later. Well, duh, we all do. But as life expectancy has risen, so should the retirement age. There is no rational reason that the taxpayers should be paying someone for 40 years of retirement for someone who only worked for 30 years.
Raise it. And then index it to the national average life expectancy so we can stop fussing with it.
Life expectancy? Sure, but isn’t it true that life expectancy rates are drastically driven by infant mortality and less by death rates over 60? If you factor that in, just how much longer are we living than people 50 years ago?
Another question. Retirement also has to do with the age at which you can no longer work. I doubt rough carpenters can work as long as accountants can. Is there any thought to that issue?