Apr 29, 2008
ENCORE AGENDA: Rewarding longer working lives
We’ve complained that politicians seem to prefer sticks to carrots when it comes to encouraging people to extend their working lives.
Now, Senators Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) are offering some carrots.
Among other provisions, The Incentives for Older Workers Act, introduced April 28, would extend the Social Security bonus for recipients who postpone claiming their benefits beyond the “normal” retirement age. The change could mean bigger monthly checks — for life — for those who choose to keep working.
Other provisions would remove outdated pension rules that now penalize people who phase into retirement by staying on the job but with reduced hours and pay, and Social Security regulations that dock workers who claim benefits early while continuing to work.
Many of the changes are arcane, but they represent a real attempt to clear the debris of policies enacted decades ago, when the goal was to usher workers out of the workforce.
“Our commonsense policy creates a win-win situation for both older workers and the companies that employ them,” Sen. Kohl said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal today pointed out some of the disincentives in current policies that discourage Americans from working past traditional retirement age.
For example, since a company’s pension plan is usually based on a worker’s salary at the time of retirement, an individual who decides to continue working at a reduced salary may wind up with a reduced pension payout.
And those who claim their Social Security checks before they reach 65 face penalties if they continue to work and earn more than $13,560 a year.
Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Civic Ventures, publisher of Encore.org, called for extension of Social Security’s “delayed retirement credit” in his book, Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life.
The bonus lets individuals increase their monthly check by up to 8% for each year they postpone their claims for benefits beyond the “normal” retirement age. But under current law, the bonus is capped at age 70. The new Senate bill would extend that to 72 — enabling those that continue to work to collect bigger checks when they truly do retire.
Freedman has suggested other reforms as well, such as allowing those over age 65 to opt out of the Social Security payroll and permitting those between 55 and 65 to buy into Medicare.
Click here to watch the webcast of the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging hearing, “Leading By Example: Making Government a Model for Hiring and Retaining Older Workers,” Wednesday, April 30 at 3 p.m. Eastern/noon Pacific.
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CVWF
Great John—please keep me posted! I too am trying to land a job with them—I am so excited by the work they are doing.
Lauri
Incentives for Older Workers Act - A step in the right direction
I only watched the last half of the hearing, so far, but was encouraged by some of the testimony. I think the "Applicant’s Bill of Rights", is very important. As someone who has applied for federal employment via USAJOBS, I can only say it is extremely frustrating. I have applied to the US Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, the Veterans Affairs, and Department of Labor (DOL), or as Obama calls it the Department of Management. The DOL has been by far the worst in timely, if at all responses. I have years of experience working with DOL Employment and Training (ETA) funded programs at the state, regional and local levels, and the Bush years have been the worst.( I’m sure I could write volumes on the topic.) The Applicant’s Bill of Rights, if implemented competently, could provide real time status of a submitted application instead of the "crap shoot" it currently is. Sometimes a canned confirmation is sent, other times nothing. Once in the system, you may never hear anything about the application. Sporadically, an emailed notification is received usually long after it has been submitted. Also, sporadically, a notification is sent stating it’s status as being reviewed, sent to further review, another applicant was selected from another list etc. .... . I have tried follow-up phone calls with limited success. The usual response is "we don’t handle that here", "it’s up to the hiring authority" and so on. I’ve given up applying, and so have others I know. The DOL I knew as a responsive and caring agency, no longer exist. I can’t help but think the same thing that happened to FEMA, has happened to DOL. The political appointment of incompetent leadership has taken its toll across so many federal agencies (FDA, EPA, HUD, FCC to name a few). Maybe, if the feds can set an example in the hiring and retention of older workers, some of us who still remember a time when government was good, can bring about the sorely needed changes.
John, Have you ever heard of
John,
Have you ever heard of an advocacy organization called Corporate Voices for Working Families? Based in Washington, DC, the organization represents its corporate partners (members) as "the business voice in discussions about issues important to America’s working families". One of the issue spaces they work in is the Mature Workforce. Quoting their material, " Corporate Voices for Working Families is committed to improving public policy and to helping employers meet the needs of older workers, enabling them to remain in the workforce if they choose."
I encourage you to check out their website: www.cvworkingfamilies.org.
Thank You for the reference.
Lauri,
I visited the “Corporate Voices for Working Families” website, finally. I even applied for one of their vacant positions. What a great find! I really appreciate your alerting me to the site. It seems an almost perfect match for both my background, and the career I am trying to develop.
And, here I thought no one pays much attention to these postings.
Thanks again,
John