From Australia’s retirement savings model to Europe’s ever-evolving pension experiments, it’s starting to look like the US government is looking abroad for ideas on how to “fix” the eternal retirement crisis.

The latest idea gaining traction is one that isn’t new but makes everyone collectively roll their eyes — that is… raising the retirement age. 😮‍💨

Germany is the latest country to bring this topic back to the talking table. 🇩🇪

According to recent reports, German experts recently floated the idea of raising the country’s retirement age dramatically all the way to 73, (up from the current 65). It’s not law yet, but the proposal has already made progress and (naturally) sparked protests.

Germany isn’t the only one. Other countries have already been quietly pushing retirement further and further out. Even France which just in 2023 raised its retirement age by 2 years to 64 despite serious public backlash. 😡

Denmark, however, stands out right now, as it just passed a legislation that will gradually raise its retirement age to 70 for people born from 1971 — matching Libya for the highest official retirement age in the world.

(Yeah, Libya surprised us too!) 👀

And then there’s Australia, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, and even Spain — all near the top of the global retirement-age leaderboard.

Officially, the US retirement age is set at 66/67, and there’s no official increase planned for 2025. (Psst… there was supposed to be a thing about it as part of the “Big, Beautiful Bill” but it never got finalised.)

But either way, politically? The idea never really goes away.

Raising the retirement age has just again popped up during Republican-led budget talks, as usual, framed as a “necessary adjustment” to keep Social Security solvent. 🧾

Again, this isn’t news. We’ve heard for decades that the Social Security is “on the brink of collapse,” yet we’re still here, aren’t we? But while Social Security isn’t about to implode tomorrow, it is facing legit pressure.

The trust fund surplus is projected to run out around 2034, after which payroll taxes would only cover about 80% of promised benefits. At that point, Congress either needs to raise revenue, cut benefits, or… push retirement further down the road. 👵

There are three key points to consider here.

First, people are living longer, obviously. Which is great news in theory — unless you’re running a pension system designed when retirement lasted 10 years, not 30.

Second, birth rates are falling. Fewer workers are paying into systems that support more retirees, and the math simply isn’t mathing anymore. 💸

Third, inflation and messy budgets are forcing governments to slash long-term spending, making pensions an obvious target.

Not to mention, there is an increasing trend with more people keeping working, even just part-time, after officially retirement. (Which, honestly, probably tells you more about the state of the economy than personal choice.) 📉

Denmark tied its retirement age to life expectancy back in 2006, but even there, politicians are starting to hesitate. Their Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen even admitted that you can’t just keep telling people to work forever.

Social Security is famously known as the “third rail” of American politics — touch it and you’re opening a whole can of worms for arguments. 🍿🔥

And a recent poll found that 78% of Americans oppose raising the full retirement age from 67 to 70, even if it means benefits would last longer. Seniors hate it. Workers hate it. Everyone hates it. Just… no!

And the anxiety is real too. Saving for retirement is the top financial worry for Americans over 50, with inflation already having forced many people to delay retirement plans altogether, especially with the financial mess that the COVID pandemic has left behind for many.

Raising the retirement age might make government accountants happier, but it makes us regular people furious. As Europe experiments and the US watches closely, one thing is becoming clear — retirement is becoming less about “golden years” and more about endurance and survival. 😵‍💫

And if governments aren’t careful, they might discover that pushing people to work until the very end will result in other, more serious consequences.