Do you think people would retire earlier if medicare started younger?

They would have to change the whole structure of Medicare, as it now stands. Right now, its pretty much what goes in is going right back out. Major changes would have to take place and I am not sure if Americans can afford this, at this time.

I think knowing they will have enough to live on and medical care are important considerations for when people retire, not just one factor.

I would.

Earlier medicare or medicare E for everybody.

Some wippersnapper could have my current job.
Not like I’d sit on my butt after quitting that – I could easily see developing other skills that had income potential for occasional or part-time productivity.

It would help tremendously if older folks retired. Projections had indicated that 7–10 thousand persons per day were eligible for retirement starting in 2010, which would have really opened up job opportunities for people under 60. The market and housing crash, I believe, have postponed this exodus, and the economy will not start recovering until these folks have confidence that their investments have rebounded.

It is actually much more harmful than you would think at a glance, because older people are holding onto jobs, preventing younger folks from supporting their families as they expected to. These young folks are moving in with their elders, and these elders are postponing retirement even longer to support their children until conditions improve.

I thought everybody was running hell bent, to raise the retirement age.

@Jaxk Yeah, the question is not really about whether it will work fiscally or not on a macro level, but rather why a person does or does not retire at a certain age.

@jaxk Plus, my guess is the healthcare is more important than the social security.

I spent some time selling medicare supplement policies to people who were going to turn 65 that month or in a few months. (Let’s not get into what the policies cover)

Medicare kicks in at 65 whether you retire or not and being eligible for Medicare did not appear to me to be a significant issue about whether someone was going to retire or not.

I pay a lot of money for health care as the spouse of a state employee here. Medicare will be ⅓ of the monthly cost I now pay once I turn 65 which is in two years. You have to be crazy to continue with private health care if you can go on Medicare. The cost differential is just too much to ignore.

I don’t think so @JLeslie. We have Medicare which means people can access free health care. Older Australians (after the age of 50 I believe) can get subsidised medicines too. Not sure to what extent they are subsidised and if the subsidy increases with age. These are some of the services available to older Australians.

People cannot access their pension until they reach a certain age (varies depending upon when they were born).

These statistics show the level of retirement and those who intend to retire in 2009. I suspect because of the GFC and its effect on pensions there will be more people continuing to work for longer. Australians in most occupations do not have to retire at a set age.

I don’t understand the great desire to retire. I personally need and like structure in my life. I think if I retired, I would grow old and fat. I am 67 now and have no intention of retiring unless or until I am incapable of working. One must also consider, a lot of the jobs that people of retirement age take are jobs that younger people do not want.

@rooeytoo I think a lot of people don’t want to retire. My dad has a book business in his retirement, and he hates it being referred to that way in his retirement, because he feels as though this career is just as valid as his old one he retired from. The book business is something he loves, does part time, but makes a decent amount of money doing.

@Bellatrix Interesting link. It caused me to google a little and wikipedia has a page on retirement also. Both your link and mine speak of health being a factor in early retirement, but does not say or breakdown whether it is as extreme as needing to go on disability or health just makes a job more difficult so people choose not to deal with added pain and aggravation.

I was considering job flexibility (you know, “freedom”!) more than retirement when I stated “I would”. I think a lot of people feel strongly stuck in their current employment because, unless they got another job with health coverage, the alternatives can be bleak or expensive for health coverage.

I think lots of people at all sorts of ages would consider more entrepreneurial activities (you know, “inovation”!) and small businesses (the real job creators) would especially benefit from a single-payer health-care system.

Health care coverage should not be what keeps you in a job, or makes you take a job.

@dabbler I completely agree.