The SS tidbit I haven't seen in the press is younger than 52 your retirement age is already 67.

[union_maid]

3. Very true

It's 66 for me and I was born in 1949. That's really already too high for lots of people. Raising it further is not a feasible plan. We do live longer, but the ability to keep working does not always go along with longevity.

Of course, you sometimes can, and many do, get SSD if you're physically unable to do your job any longer. And the older you get, the less that's required in the way of retraining for something else. Age is factored in. My husband is on it. The catch is, of course, that it takes two years after that to qualify for Medicare. Husband is on my insurance and we'll probably put him on Medicare this year, but if you don't have an option for coverage, you're pretty much screwed. Hopefully, when Obamacare fully kicks in that will be at least somewhat ameliorated.