Andanh.com

The people who calculate statistical risks want to see federal policymakers boost the age for receiving full Social Security retirement benefits.

Doing so might be only part of the solution, but it would make other fixes less severe, according to the American Academy of Actuaries.

"Tax increases could be phased in more gradually,  and reductions in benefit growth could be spread across a much larger population of beneficiaries, making individual reductions relatively smaller  and less precipitous," said Tom Terry, the group's vice president of pension issues.

Even though Americans are living longer, the Social Security retirement age has been increased just once. Legislation in 1983 hiked the normal retirement age from 65 to 67.

In 1940, typical 65-year-old males lived on average 11.9 more years and 65-year-old females lived on average 13.4 additional years. By 2007 those figures increased to an estimated 16.7 and 19.2 years.  By 2040, Social Security Administration actuaries project life expectancy at age 65 could increase even further, with men living on average 18.8 additional years and women, 20.9 more years.

Social Security’s cash flow will start moving into the red around 2017. The system wasn't designed to pay retirees for  two or more decades on average, which justifies another increase to the retirement age.

Arizona politicians are all atwitter over the state getting shorted by the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. And they have a point. The program gives preference to heating in the winter over cooling in the summer.

But the larger point is that this is another federal program that shouldn't exist. Why is helping poor people pay for their utilities a federal, rather than a state or local, activity?

(Quick Hit published 8.3.08)

I just received word that the Cardinals released running back Marcel Shipp, who along with safety Adrian Wilson, had been with the team longer than any other players.

Shipp's agent, Brad Blank, confirmed the news. My colleague, Bob McManaman, is working the story in Flagstaff and will have more information later.

Shipp was due to make $1.75 million this year, the second year of a three-year contract he signed last year. He received no signing bonus, so the Cardinals save $1.75 million against the cap.

I didn't see this move coming, and Blank said Shipp really didn't, either. But Shipp didn't get much work late last week, as Tim Hightower, a rookie from Richmond, took more snaps than usual. Shipp had been running with the second team behind Edgerrin James. I thought J.J. Arrington was in more danger of getting cut than any of the other running backs, and his place on the roster still isn't certain.

Shipp, who turns 30 on Friday, made the team as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He played in 87 games, starting 28 over eight seasons. He missed the 2004 season after suffering a dislocated ankle and fractured led during a scrimmage in Flagstaff.

Over the years, I bumped into several coaches from other teams who always asked about Shipp  and if the team was going to keep him. He would be a good pickup for a club, although teams are hesitant about adding 30-year-old running backs.