Interesting Social Security Piece

The Times has an 8-page feature on older Americans in Grand Rapids, Michigan and their various approaches to retirement and experiences with Social Security. Unsurprisingly, those who did fabulously well through their working lives, and are not dependent on Social Security, are more open to the Bush proposal to drain funds from the guaranteed benefit system.

One thought that I was unable to shake as I read the piece was the luck factor that was prevalent in various outcomes. The best off of the retirees is a college drop out who worked for Kellogg his whole life. He began as a cookie baker, moved up to plant manager, and retired as a Vice President of the company with a $75,000 pension. He's the guy who retrofitted a Kellogg's factory to create the world's first Pop-Tart. He's the child of immigrants who lived the American dream.

I don't want to diminish the hard work aspect of his success, but really, the Kellogg's factory where he worked likely employed hundreds of people, but one or maybe a few managers. There are simply fewer CEO and EVP positions available than there are cashier and middle management posts (and fewer middle management posts than cashier).

Whether we like to think so or not, luck is a factor in our condition at retirement. The Pop-Tart retiree could have been injured on the job at age 28 and spent his working years on and off of disability. Luck is one the big factors that prevented that outcome (I would add that workplace safety laws and other government interventions helped, too). And what if he had been on disability, hadn't ended up way ahead in his career, and his smart financial choices had boiled down $.58 a can beans or $.38 cent a can peas? Should we as a society abandon people like that in old age?