Going broke

Reason: "Social Security Will Be Insolvent in 12 Years - Without policy changes, beneficiaries will receive only 78 percent of what was promised starting in 2034."

When Social Security launched in 1935, the average life expectancy for Americans was 61. That means the average person died four years before qualifying for benefits. It was imagined as a safety net for the truly needy, not a conveyor belt to transfer wealth from the younger, working population to the older, relatively wealthier retired population.

Now, the average American lives to 78, more than a decade past the age (67) when they can start collecting Social Security benefits—and 16 years beyond the eligibility age (62) for early retirees to collect partial benefits.

Every time the very reasonable proposal of raising the retirement age comes up it's met with screams of outrage, even though people are living much longer and work in the 21st century is nothing like the ditch-digging years of the mid-20th.

By the way, I recently stumbled across a very handy (and free) retirement calculator.  Adjust your expected social security benefit down by 22% for maximum accuracy.