Will working boomers save Social Security?

Virginia Burgess could be the leading edge of a wave of baby boomers choosing to work right through retirement.

“Our generation of baby boomers are very active,” she said. "Very active."

In fact, study after boomer study paints a similar picture: 69 percent of baby boomers say they will work into retirement, and only 48 percent see retirement as a time to indulge themselves, according to the AARP. And 70 percent will work past the age of 65, according to employment recruiter Challenger Gray and Christmas.  Suffice it to say, many boomers may put off drawing on social security benefits.

As more and more baby boomers choose to keep working past retirement age, it begs the question: could boomers, largely blamed for sinking Social Security because of their numbers, actually save it?

“If people are retiring later and it opens up new possibilities,” said Peter Orszag, a former economic adviser in the Clinton administration who is now at The Brookings Institution. “For example, changing other parts of the Social System, including perhaps the retirement age. Then you would start to see a bigger impact on the solvency and the finances of Social Security.”

The trouble now is that if you claim your benefit later in life, you get a bigger monthly paycheck, so the system doesn't benefit. And many experts don't buy the boomer mantra.

“Despite the fact that people say they're going to work longer into retirement, there appears to be very little change in the retirement habits of Americans,” said Michael Tanner, director of health and welfare studies at the CATO Institute. “About half of all Americans still retire early at age 62.”

There are plenty of forces working against boomers who choose later retirement: corporations pushing early pension buyouts and mandatory retirement, easing, but still pervasive age discrimination, and the quality of work.

“You have to differentiate between the sort of inside the beltway where we push papers until we're 95, and what it means if you're a factory worker or a longshoreman or a coal miner,” said Tanner. “For those folks, working an extra few years is a big deal.”

While the first baby boomers have not reached 62, a third of people who currently work beyond retirement are only working part time. But boomers are arguably the healthiest generation yet. So it remains to be seen if those who say they won't retire, will actually follow through.

“I think there's widespread agreement that the system should reflect increased life expectancies in some way,” said Orszag. “The only question is exactly how.”

The system as it stands now is actually working against the boomers who work through retirement. That’s because, if you work those extra few years, you tend to get less back in terms of additional Social Security benefits than you pay in additional Social Security taxes. So for many it makes sense to take early retirement

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