No worries.
Oh, and I agree with your last thought. Somewhere along the line they're going to have to raise the age where you can first draw benefits. 62 was fine when the life expectancy was 67 or so. But now 67 has become 77, and you don't have to look too far to see people well into their 80s and beyond. An entitlement designed to provide for 5 or so years is now providing for 15-20, and sometimes much longer. An adjustment there is going to be in order sometime along the way.
I freely admit that I'm being arbitrary here, but here's an example. I cannot, in good conscience, pull the rug out from people in their 50's, and even in their late 40's, on their retirement. I would not make a change in their benefits at this point.
So a possible, very rough, solution would be that for those born in 1970 (age 40 today) and later, you are not eligible to draw the first penny of social security as we know it until age 64. If you want to make it 65, I will not argue. That puts you out to the year 2034 or 2035 (if you go age 65). Full benefits would also be adjusted upward accordingly. You have at least 24 years to make your necessary adjustments in your retirement planning to cover the 2 or 3 years of lost benefits.
Those of you born after 1980, you do not draw until age 67. You have until 2047, 36 years and change to plan accordingly.
Born in 1990 and beyond? You're waiting until age 70. You've got until 2060. If you cannot make your retirement plans in 50 years, quite frankly, I don't want to hear any kibitzing about it.
In full disclosure, this plan would affect me directly. I was born in 1974, so I would fall into the first bracket.
