Baby Boomers Start Applying for Social Security

Kathleen Casey-Kirschling has become the first baby boomer to apply for social security. She becomes eligible for early retirement benefits in January. This puts the social security crisis back into the forefront of issues that need to be dealt with. If nothing is done, the program will end up with an estimated shortfall of $13.6 trillion. Personally, if I was Ms. Casey-Kirschling, I'd do exactly what she did... grab the money as early as I could to make sure I got something back. Inevitably, we'll either need to raise taxes or reduce benefits.

One of the most interesting quotes from the article is

When you're behind closed doors, and you're not posturing for the public or for the media,'' [Social Security Administration Commissioner] Astrue said, ``they [Democrats and Republicans] say almost word for word the same thing.