Country lowers retirement age to 58

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Country lowers retirement age to 58
By Associated Press
Posted today at 11:52 a.m.

Bucking a global trend, leftist-led Bolivia is lowering its retirement age and nationalizing its pension funds. Bolivia’s Congress approved legislation early Friday to make Bolivians eligible for full pensions at age 58. The country’s 70,000 miners will get to retire two years earlier.

The previous retirement age was 65 for men and 60 for women.

Bolivia’s decision to lower its retirement age runs counter to a global trend to raise retirement ages as life expectancies rise, birth rates drop and national treasuries come under strain from pension obligations. France raised its minimum retirement age to 62 last month — full benefits aren’t available now until 67 — while Greece is drastically cutting back early retirement opportunities.

President Evo Morales had pushed hard for the pension reform law, which also brings the landlocked Andean nation’s pension system under state control and extends pension protection to the 60 percent of Bolivians who work in the informal sector and currently lack pensions.

Read more: http://chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/12/country-lowers-retirement-age-to-58.html

[gateley]

1. Bravo! nt

[slackmaster]

2. With a life expectancy of about 70 for women and under 65 for men, that make sense

http://www.indexmundi.com/bolivia/life_expectancy_at_birth.html

[pitohui]

56. it's a very poor country w a large native population

until we get on top of issues like diabetes etc. that seem to attack poor native peoples at a higher and younger rate, their life expectancy just isn't going to be as great

hence the need to lower the retirement age so that people can have some chance of enjoying any retirement at all

in the usa w. my life expectancy over 80 i would actually not be happy about the idea that once you're in your fifties, you're passed it and should be thinking of retirement...although i suppose ultimately we will have to lower the retirement age as well, simply because we have TOO much population and TOO few jobs

[Lucinda]

3. Interesting read!

TY!

[Enrique]

4. wow

:thumbsup:

[txlibdem]

5. Except our life expectancy in the US is on the decline

Our kids are going to die younger than we are, if current trends continue.

[Igel]

10. I haven't seen anything to say this..

I've seen things like this:

"America continues to lag behind other nations when it comes to gains in life expectancy, and commonly cited causes for our poor performance—obesity, smoking, traffic fatalities and homicide—are not to blame, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health." http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/news/despite-high-spending-us-life-expectancy-continues-fall-behind-other-countries (and similar in the NYT, WaPo, etc.) These just say we're gaining less than others, so we're falling behind in relative rankings--not in absolute numbers.

I've seen articles pointing out declines in specific demographics in the US, usually at least compensated for by increases in other, larger demographics.

[txlibdem]

18. The UN ranks us 38th in life expectancy

No other western nation is lower, except Portugal which comes in at #39. Your post makes that sound kinda rosy. I happen to think that we should be a little bit closer to #1.

And I have seen stats that say ours IS going down, not for the rich bastards but for women, people of color and the poor. Overall statistics can mask a huge injustice, it seems.

Life expectancy for American women is declining for the first time since the Spanish influenza epidemic in 1918, according to study published today by the Harvard School of Public Health and reported in the Washington Post.
Life Expectancy Decline for US Women is Widespread
The drop in life expectancy for American women was noted in nearly 1,000 counties—home to roughly 12 percent of U.S. women—mostly in low-income and rural areas in the Deep South, Appalachia and parts of the Midwest, but the downward trend also was apparent in one county in Maine.

...

The study found declining longevity in a much smaller percentage of American men—only about 4 percent. And it’s not just women vs men, it is American women vs the world. Researchers involved in the study said that no similar trends could be found in other countries, so declining life expectancy among women seems to be a uniquely American experience—at least for now.

http://environment.about.com/od/healthenvironment/a/life_expectancy.htm

Many advocates of US health reform point to the nation’s relatively low life-expectancy rankings as evidence that the health care system is performing poorly. Others say that poor US health outcomes are largely due not to health care but to high rates of smoking, obesity, traffic fatalities, and homicides. We used cross-national data on the fifteen-year survival of men and women over three decades to examine the validity of these arguments. We found that the risk profiles of Americans generally improved relative to those for citizens of many other nations, but Americans’ relative fifteen-year survival has nevertheless been declining. For example, by 2005, fifteen-year survival rates for forty-five-year-old US white women were lower than in twelve comparison countries with populations of at least seven million and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of at least 60 percent of US per capita GDP in 1975. The findings undercut critics who might argue that the US health care system is not in need of major changes.

http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.2010.0073v1

[Laelth]

23. Stress. We're being worked to death while constantly struggling to pay bills. n/t

-Laelth

[txlibdem]

24. Stressed out and constantly struggling is just how the rich SOBs want us to be

How better to both control a population and maximize profits. And don't mention that their agents and underlings keep us at each other's throats, convincing us to hate the gays, hate the immigrants, hate the minorities, hate the... you name it. Just so long as we never catch on about who is the real enemy of us all: the wealthy thieves and con artists who've stolen our country from us and we will eventually have to fight to take it back.

[Laelth]

25. Amen to that. n/t

-Laelth

[txlibdem]

67. I like your cartoon President. Too bad the real one emulates him.

:cry:

[Alameda]

27. Sigh....sad but very true........

[heliarc]

31. Alienation of labor...

Alienation of laborer from his/her fellow laborer
Alienation of laborer from the fruits of his/her labor.
Alienation of laborer from his/her species being.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm

[Moonbat2]

34. like they say

STUPID is as STUPID does ;-)

[Codeine]

64. Stress and record obesity.

I would guess more the latter than the former. We're an unhealthy and bloated nation.

[Maine-ah]

41. I would like to know the county in Maine.

[femrap]

51. I've long felt that that my mother's generation

was the peak for longevity. Considering all the chemicals in our food, air, water now....over time they take a massive toll on our bodies. And given that growth hormones (estrogen) is used in animals, no wonder women have breast cancer.

Microwaves and plastics...more deadly stuff.

I'm amazed that Bolivia has an earlier retirement date for women...how kind. Since most women do 2 jobs, it makes perfect sense.

[pitohui]

57. we've never been close to number one in life expectancy

i don't know how we can expect to be even close in life expectancy since much of our population doesn't have access to modern health tech at a reasonable price

the countries w. long life spans, be they little costa rica or big japan, are countries where ALL benefit from advances in medical technology -- not just the privileged

it does no good to invent a drug or a surgical technique that, if i use it, i have destroyed my entire family's future and the younger folks chance of an education etc. of course i will just quietly not use it rather than bankrupt everyone i care about...and plenty of others are in the same boat...the technology may be there but not for us, and yet somehow they can supply these services affordably in costa rica??? sigh...

i think for every person charged $50K for a dose of chemo in the usa, there should be a lottery of CEOs and board members of hospitals, big pharma, and so on, and one of those guys picked randomly and executed for the crime of murder (in my state if you kill someone while committing a burglary you are a murderer, and to charge such prices is surely extortion or theft)

[molly77]

46. Our infant mortality rate is now abysmal

That is an indicator of overall health of a country. US Conservatives have an explanation for it. But in the long run, it makes no difference. We are #37 in health care. That is not good. Our health care is not only out of reach for too many...it isn't good.Too much profit . Bottom line does not work with people's lives.

[Creative]

40. That is not true. If current trends continue, our kids will live longer.

http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_dyn_le00_in&idim=country:USA&dl=en&hl=en&q=life+expectancy+in+the+us

[harun]

68. We need a study that show's life expectancy trends based on income/wealth. And

then we should lower the retirement age for low income/low wealth accordingly. Actually should lower it for everyone but in the United States that is about as likely as Universal Health Care.

[TwilightGardener]

6. If we could do that, I imagine the unemployment picture might improve.

[MJJP21]

7. Someone

really needs to stand up and point this out on raising the retirement age in the US. If the age to retire is raised this will no doubt raise the numbers of those seeking SS DISABILITY payments which in the long run will cause an increase in payments not a decrease.

[Historic NY]

8. We raise it here so there is less to collect from Social Security....

keep holding out hope that it doesn't go to 75. :think: wWll that would solve a lots of problems wouldn't it.

[indimuse]

9. KNR! Bravo!! n/t

[sasha031]

11. good news for them

[pattmarty]

12. How fucking novel, actually LOWERING the retirement age for State........

......retirement plans. Jeez, that Morales guy is really an evil motherfucker ain't he?:sarcasm:

[Imajika]

14. Pretty sure it isn't novel at all...

Many European countries lowered retirement ages over time, its just that the trend is now going in the other direction.

France for example had reasonably low retirement ages (60/65), a reduced work week and laws against overtime. Problem was, it really didn't cut unemployment so they reversed the work week thing and now the right wing government raised the retirement age (62/67).

Its great Morales is trying it, but what matters is only if it works. Good intentions mean nothing, results are how this policy will be judged.

[pattmarty]

17. I really don't know what EXACTLY you are trying to say. What do you........

...............mean by "if it works"? The actual "retirement" age in any country will have peripheral plus and minuses. The main reason for having a state retirement program (as in ANY state program) is how it affects the citizens in however many ways. What the hell are you trying to say as far as state retirement programs?

[Imajika]

20. I am saying that if the economy in Bolivia..

..gets worse and they find they simply can't afford to pay for retirement/pensions at 58 then the program will have failed. It will end up being reversed at some point and regarded as an experiment which didn't work.

If on, the other hand, the economy remains the same or improves and Bolivia CAN afford to pay retirement/pension benefits from 58 on up then the program will have worked - especially because, presumably, quality of life will have also improved.

If lowering the retirement age was slam dunk which always produced great results for society, more countries would be doing it. Right now, just the opposite seems to be happening.

[pattmarty]

21. It all depends on how it is funded AND how the law is worded as in.........

...........our SS system. It "works" if it is funded properly and not de-funded or like in our system "borrowed" against. If you set up a program and it works initially, then it works. If you fuck with it by "borrowing" or defunding then it's shit, pretty simple actually. My opinion, if bolivia's system works, then great. This bullshit about austerity, and all the proponents calling for JUST cuts in social programs is total crap. There are PLENTY of other programs in ANY governments budget to cut FIRST before cutting programs that hurt the populace.

[pitohui]

58. the economy in bolivia has nowhere to go but up

you cannot compare it to the usa economy, i was there recently and as the supposed poorest country in south america in some areas it isn't third world it's FOURTH world, with areas still in the process of getting electricity

you can't compare a developing economy which is going to make huge strides as it works to catch up, with a fully mature economy where we have an infrastructure in place and thus a limited need for "real" jobs (much of our real estate bubble was "fake" jobs like building multiple homes for rich people -- only on the gulf coast did we have "real" construction jobs because of the hurricane rebuilding and, of course, in our area the recession didn't hit so hard because it was based on something real)

i think this guy is trying to do something useful for his people, but we have to compare bolivia today more with the 1930s in america, when we were still looking to electrify, build decent roads, etc. -- they have a big "real" job to do, they are not just keeping people busy w. busy work

a guy doing the physical labor of making bricks is going to need to retire sooner than a ball of hot air pushing papers around

[reggie the dog]

33. they didnt reverse our work week

it is still 35 hours long. you can do 4 hours overtime now if you want to but the base of a full work week is 35 hours. as for retiring at 67 the govt knows that people will just be unemployed the last 5 or ten years and unemployment aid is cheaper than the retirement. who is going to hire a 63 year old truck driver?

[CBHagman]

47. "..what matters is only if it works."

Precisely. There has to be the planning and funding to back it. Demographics come into play as well.

[DesertFlower]

13. OMG. they're socialists.

:sarcasm:

[Bucky]

39. I think the word you're looking for is "civilized"

I blame the Incas.

[gratuitous]

15. If they retire that young

How in the world are they going to be working productively until they drop dead? Thank Cthulu such unamerican notions will never take hold in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave!

[femrap]

52. Maybe they have a lot of

young folks who need jobs....which is also the case here and in France. Maybe TPTB are just trying to get the Old and the Young to HATE each other???

[Octafish]

16. Bean counters forced Turkey to raise theirs to 65 and riots broke out.

Many people across Turkey joined a brief work stoppage today — the second in a month — to protest against the plan to gradually raise the retirement age to 65, from a current 48 for men and 44 for women.

“We do not want to retire in the grave,” said Izzet Seferberoglu, a 30-year old protester.

[Judi Lynn]

19. Bolivian Senate Approves Nationalization of $3 Billion Pension Fund System

Bolivian Senate Approves Nationalization of $3 Billion Pension Fund System
By Sara Shahriari - Dec 3, 2010 1:24 PM CT

Bolivia’s Senate approved President Evo Morales’ plan to nationalize the pension system and lower the retirement age in the South American country.

The move, approved late last night, will transfer administration of Bolivia’s pension funds from Futuro de Bolivia S.A., managed by Switzerland’s Zurich Financial Services AG, and Prevision S.A., managed by Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, to state entity Gestora Publica de la Seguridad Social de Largo Plazo, Viviana Arinez, a Finance Ministry spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

Press officials at Zurich Financial Services and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria didn’t immediately respond to e-mail and phone messages left by Bloomberg. The pension system had about $3 billion in assets, Buenos Aires-based news website Infobae reported, without saying where it obtained the information.

The takeover is the latest by the 51-year-old Morales, who took office in 2006 vowing greater state control over the economy. Morales enacted a new constitution last year that calls for increased government control over the country’s natural resources and utilities. Earlier this year he nationalized four power generating utilities.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-03/bolivian-senate-approves-nationalization-of-3-billion-pension-fund-system.html

[Odin2005]

22. Bravo, Evo!!!

[unkachuck]

26. K&R....this is great news for Bolivians and a shining example for the rest of the world....

....did you hear that simpson?....no gorillas smashing bananas in Bolivia, you jagoff....

[sabrina 1]

28. Time to move to South America. That part of the world

is making such great strides towards real Democracy now that they are out from under the influence of the Global Capitalists and their brutal dictators. Even as the U.S. appears to be falling apart, democracy-wise.

Good for Bolivia. I guess we'll start hearing nasty things about them now. Can't have them setting a bad example now, can we?

[femrap]

53. Pretty soon

Bolivia will be 'training grounds for Al Queda.' I wish we had a prez like Morales.

[pitohui]

59. we'll "start" hearing nasty things about them?

while it's a popular tourist destination for europeans, i've heard scare propaganda against the bolivians since at least the reagan era

our powers that be have never liked poor, native people

how much chemical poison did reagan have dumped on them in the 1980s? i can't even remember now...

[farmboxer]

29. I worked so very hard for Obama, yet he worships Republicans

He only cares about Republicans and his Wall Street friends. "We the People" are doomed. I will have to vote for Obama in 2012 while holding my nose. He is a fraction above Republican Plutocratic criminals. We have no choice. He takes us for granted.

[Kolesar]

42. weak

[Patchuli]

48. I am hoping we will have a challenger

who actually is a Democrat and wants to help US, not the disgusting rich. I will work my butt off for such a challenger. In my dreams it would be Al Gore or Howard Dean.

[heliarc]

30. Considering that Miners and laborers

have a lower life expectancy than... say bankers, politicians, "professionals" and doctors... I think this is a pretty good thing to see. I think anyone doing hard labor should be able to retire at 50, or if they've sustained a serious work related injury.

[Moonbat2]

36. in order to "retire"

don't you have to have actually "worked" at some point in your life?? x(

[ret5hd]

43. what, exactly, are you implying?

[pitohui]

60. the implication seems to be that farmers don't work (many bolivians are subsistence farmers)

if the poster thinks that raising coca bushes or goats is all skipping thru the rainforest and over the colorful mountains all the time singing the sound of music...i invite the poster to try the lifestyle for him or herself

subsistence farming is not a pleasant or pretty life, that's why so many of us had fathers or grandfathers who would rather join armies and get shot at than stay home on the farm!!!

[Codeine]

65. Actually, I think he implied that bankers and such don't work.

That's how I read it. I really doubt anyone on DU would imply subsistence farming isn't heavy labor.

[inna]

32. awesome news, for once, and enthusiastically rec'ced.

South America gives me some hope for the humanity, perhaps more than any other part of the world lately.

Whatever they do, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not give in to the global bankster mafia. Just say NO to neoliberalism.



Oh, and... I absolutely hate to say it, but I fear/sort of expect an Anti-Morales "coup" in some near future... sponsored by the same usual suspects, of course.

[Citizen Worker]

35. This is a fine example of why a friend refers to President Evo Morales as EVOLVE. This is exactly

what progressives should be advocating for here instead of fighting a defensive action to maintain the status quo. We should be fighting in the streets to lower the retirement age since we now rank 49th in the world in longevity having fallen from 24th in a mere ten years. You can bet the catfood commission knows this and they're banking on further decline in longevity so we won't live long enough to collect Social Security.

[Moonbat2]

37. see #36

[Turborama]

38. It's 55 in Indonesia

Therefore, any expats who have the wherewithal can get a retirement visa from 55 years old onwards.

Also, unions in Indonesia are really powerful.

Just a couple of interesting pieces of trivia I thought worth sharing.

[femrap]

54. Thank you for sharing!

I read a couple years back that of the 'industrialized/(over)developed' nations, no nation works longer hours than the US except S. Korea.

And btw, that Trade treaty w/ S. Korea that was finalized yesterday certainly didn't get much news coverage, did it? Oh yes, the big news was Obama visiting the troops in the land of 'where good $$$ follows bad $$$.'

Gee if we didn't have to spend all this $$$$ on wars and 800 military bases around the world, maybe we could retire at 58 as well.

I think we'll see deaths of people between the ages of 55 to 62 increase....a lot.

[irislake]

44. Well that's "socialism" for yu!

Better send in the CIA and the killing squads to put them out of business before South America gets out of control.

[kgnu_fan]

45. Socialism is winning there

[KillCapitalism]

49. Better yet, make it 55.

Could you imagine what wonders it would do for the economy if people could retire here at 55? The unemployment rate as a whole would probably drop to about 5%. It would greatly drop for those in the age bracket of 18-29.

[geckosfeet]

50. Darn third worlders - making it tough.

[yurbud]

55. kick

[Judi Lynn]

61. Bolivia, bad information and the State Department

Bolivia, bad information and the State Department/
By david c. knowlton
Published Dec 4, 2010 01:01AM
Updated Dec 4, 2010 01:01AM

The release of thousands of secret documents by WikiLeaks justifiably troubles the U.S. government, but it also provides the rest of us with a window into the information on which American foreign policy is based. Though the window is broken and dirty, quite a lot can still be seen through it, and those glimpses are useful for evaluating our government and its policies.

Bolivia is one of the countries besides Cuba and Venezuela that troubles the United States in Latin America. Among the documents made public by WikiLeaks is a memorandum from the U.S. Embassy in Bolivia reporting on the buildup to that country’s Jan. 25, 2009, referendum on a new constitution. As a scholar who specializes in the study of Bolivia, I find the published memo important. It suggests how the United States filters information about a country in problematic ways that may well become the basis for making important decisions.

For example, while reporting the Bolivian opposition’s hand-wringing that it would probably lose the election, the Jan. 23 memo notes that “the forces of inertia seem to be conspiring against , particularly in the form of a largely uneducated rural base in the Altiplano,” or high plateau.

The memo repeats, as if it were analysis, the idea that Bolivian President Evo Morales’ support among rural Bolivians, most of whom are indigenous, is unreflective and a result of a lack of education. It continues to develop the theme of an uninformed mass blindly following the nation’s president, who generally has high public approval ratings, although the opposition and the U.S. government find him disturbing.

More:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/50797118-82/memo-rural-bolivia-education.html.csp

[defendandprotect]

63. US State Department remains one of the slimier areas of our government ....

As long as we continue on with capitalism and worship of the dollar bill

US government will find those who can be bought to work against their fellow

citizens -- count on it!

What we need to do most of all is uninvent the dollar bill -- the coin which

ultimately enslaves us all!




Patriarchy -- and its underpinning =

Organized Patriarchal Religion -- and its economic system =

Capitalism =

The Unholy Trinity

[defendandprotect]

62. Exactly what we should be doing ... plus the 4 day work week .... 5 hour day ....

Jobs for everyone -- and all it takes is LABOR uniting together --

recognizing we are all labor -- and moving together to crush this

corporate control.

[Codeine]

66. How exactly am I supposed to make a living on 20 hours a week? nt