Sunday, May 31, 1998

Raising the normal retirement age to 70 is not the best solution

By GLENN DROMGOOLE / Guest Columnist

The idea to save Social Security by moving the normal retirement age to 70 (for those born after 1959) is fraught with problems. Not just for older workers, many of whom would prefer to retire at 65 or earlier, but for employers and younger workers as well.

Some older workers would welcome the opportunity to continue working, and some would continue to make valuable contributions. Certainly no one should be forced to retire as long as he or she wants to work and continues to be productive.

But in too many situations, just the opposite is true. Too often people burn out a long time before they retire, and their last years are spent marking time and resisting change, creating unhappy work environments for senior employees, unbalanced work loads for younger workers and top-heavy payrolls for employers.

The problem is not age so much as it is burnout. Older workers seen as unproductive liabilities in one company can become productive and creative assets when taking on fresh challenges somewhere else.

We ought to be trying to develop a system that makes it possible for people to retire earlier, like military personnel and teachers and policemen do, not later. Then those who want to, or need to, can move into second or third careers, bringing with them the experience and wisdom of age and the enthusiasm of a new employee.

We also should be trying to cultivate a sabbatical system in more fields to allow mid-career workers to take three to six months off for training, study, travel, and physical and mental rejuvenation. Then, perhaps, more people would be able to remain enthusiastic and productive workers for a longer time.

The key to keeping Social Security solvent is not to raise the retirement age but to scale back the automatic cost of living adjustments and make the program less of an entitlement and more of a true pension.

Glenn Dromgoole, former editor of the Abilene Reporter-News, is taking a self-imposed, self-financed sabbatical after 30 years as a journalist. His e-mail address is: gad2abi@camalott.com.