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America's first 'baby boomer' files for Social Security

Posted: Monday, October 15, 2007 3:59 PM
Filed Under:

By John Rutherford, NBC News Producer

WASHINGTON –

America's first "baby boomer" filed for Social Security benefits Monday, becoming among the first of nearly 80 million Americans born after World War II who are expected to apply for such benefits over the next two decades.

Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, 61, was born one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946. She becomes eligible for Social Security in two and a half months. On Monday, she completed filing electronically for the benefits before a horde of reporters and photographers at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

"It was great, it was great," she said afterward. "It is so user friendly, and I hope that many of my fellow boomers will take the easy way out, because applying on-line just made it much easier to go through the whole process."

Bracing for a 'silver tsunami'
Casey-Kirschling, a retired seventh grade teacher who lives on Maryland's Eastern Shore, will get her first check (for an undisclosed amount) in early February.

"I'm thrilled to think that after all these years that I'm getting paid back the money that I put in," she said.

Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue said there's plenty of money in the system...for now.

"There's no reason to have any immediate panic," he said. "Retirement benefits right now, the funds are solvent through 2041."

And beyond then?

"I think I and most people who are really familiar with the situation are confident that there'll be some pain along the way, but we'll get there, and Social Security will be there for future generations," said Astrue.

In what's being called America's "silver tsunami," 10,000 Americans a day will become eligible for Social Security benefits over the next 20 years.

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Comments

Good for her.  I'll be 65 in Jan. 2008 and am planning to retire.  I've worked since I was 17 both p/t and full time since 1960.

Almost Gold Atlanta GA (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:42 PM)

I enjoyed reading this article because I am one of the many baby boomers who will be filing for my social security benefits soon.  I plan to does as Kathleen Casey-Kirschling did, file on-line.

Ann Taylor Decatur, IL (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:43 PM)

Why is someone 61 years old applying for SSI?  People that age are typically healthy and able to work still.  Baby Boomers are the most selfish generation ever.  They are so concerned about the SS age minimum being raised... they don't care if their own children will have the most difficulty supporting their early retirment.

Hannah Johnson Leawood KS (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:44 PM)

Plenty left...not as long as all the illegal immigrants keep siphoning off all the money...wake up america and kick these freeloaders out or there WILL NOT be any money left in 10 years

HM Tampa,FL (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:48 PM)

that guy is lying there will be nothing left for those of us under the age of 30.  I myself (26) have already come to the conclusion that I will never see any of the money that I put into S.S. and know that I will not be able to count on S.S. when I hit 60, I plan to start my own retirement fund so I don't have to worry about getting burned by all these "boomers".  good bye S.S. after 2047 we'll never see you again.

anthony c (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:49 PM)

Sounds like "Logan's Run" in reverse.  We seem to "celebrate" everything, don't we?  I guess that's why we have so many "celebrities."  Awful.  Just awful.

Scott J. Tepper (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:49 PM)

Well good for her.  I know I am NOT expecting to get anything from Social Security once I'm old enough to retire.  The fund will probably be bankrupt by then, as I have at least another 25 years to go before I can even think about applying.  

another_late_boomer, Kalispell, Montana. (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:50 PM)

Judging all the hype, one would think that the Baby Boomers were the first generation to EVER reach retirement age.  Don't get me wrong, I know they have done a lot of interesting things, like live through the Vietnam war as well as the Cold War and the whole Hippie movement.  On top of that, they produced some pretty cool music, too.  But it's not like they are the first generation to ever reach this point in their life, so why not tone down with all the commercials that scream "We, the former Hippies and Radicals of the 1960s, are now about to retire!"  Good for you, but it's hardly a first time thing.  

Ellis Fields, Columbus, OH (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:50 PM)

Casey is not getting the money she put in back. The taxes for social security were taken out of her paycheck and now when they give it back they tax it again

tom dixon, Chico, Ca (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:51 PM)

I'm 27 years old and have been paying for social security for 13 years already. It's a very harrowing thought to imagine that by the time the funds stop being solvent, I will still be months away from eligibility. Where's the "security" in that? Looks like I better do all my living now, while I can still fund it myself.

C.H., Bristol, CT (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:53 PM)

Oh greeaaat!  Here comes the reprise of the ME generation.  Not satified with pillaging the system prior to retirement, they will now belly up to the trough once more.  

david, Charlottesville, VA (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:54 PM)

I'm ahead of the Baby Boomers (born in 1942) and I have not filed for social security yet.  Why all the fuss about somebody filing for early benefits?  People should not retire until they are in their mid to late sixties, or even seventy.

Jon Anderson (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:54 PM)

As someone who'll never receive social security, I wish MS Kathleen Casey-Kirschling would realizw she'll be drawing MORE social security than she put in. Change the system so they you receive what you put in.

Jason, Bremerton, Wa (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:55 PM)

Well it must be nice that she will receiving money, she did put into it. but it's obvious that this problem will not be fixed for the future generation so please don't act like everything will be ok. keep your money and stay quiet.

Melissa, Santa An, CA (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:57 PM)

There would enough money if you would only give it to the people that have contributed to this fund. Giving this money to the foreign born who come to this country is absolutely criminal.  My brother was dying of cancer and was about to be denied after having paid into all his adult life. This is just plain wrong.

Coral Mays Royal Oak, MI (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:59 PM)

There would enough money if you would only give it to the people that have contributed to this fund. Giving this money to the foreign born who come to this country is absolutely criminal.  My brother was dying of cancer and was about to be denied after having paid into all his adult life. This is just plain wrong.

Coral Mays Royal Oak, MI (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 4:59 PM)

The only question that I have is that if every dollar that was collected for social security was kept in the social security fund, where would it be today. I have seen estimates of up to two trillon dollars have been used from the fund over the years to keep the annual deficits down. Is this true?

Gary Hayes Antrim, Ohio (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:00 PM)

Actually, births began to go up in 1944, during the last phase of the Second War.  Most demographers use this increase as the start point for the Baby Boome generation.  See: http://www.census.gov/population/documentation/twps0050/graph02.gif

D. Trott New York City (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:02 PM)

The very first SS check, for $22.54, was paid in 1940 to a Vermont woman who had paid $22 in Social Security taxes. By the time she died in 1974 at age 100 she had collected $20,944.42. Good luck Kathy, hope SS lasts that long for you and all of us that are paying into it.

Plane Fixer, Grants Pass, OR (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:03 PM)

If the commissioner himself cannot guarantee my benefits past 2041, then those of us scheduled to receive our's during that time should be exempt from mandatory contributions. Otherwise, they'll just be continuing to steal from me under false pretenses. Communism was a failure, why perpetuate the farce? I would have been better off sticking the money under my mattress for the last 20 years.

Shawn Toney, Powhatan, Virginia (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:03 PM)

I would like to know why someone my age (I was
born in 1946) is receiving benefits at 61. 65
was retirement benefit elegibility age before -  now  now it is 67 for benefits.

Lynne Miller, Irving, Texas (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:07 PM)

I am so glad the boomers are starting to receive the money they paid in all those years.  I still have a long way to go, so don't let Bush privatise social security

ray stefl (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:07 PM)

I'M REMINDED OF PRESIDENT BUSH TELLING THE DEMOCRATS AFTER THEY SHOT DOWN HIS SOCIAL SECURITY PRIVITIZATION PLAN. HE SAID "THIS PROBLEM IS NOT GOING TO GO AWAY", AND INVITED THEM TO WORK ON A BI-PARTISAN FIX. HILLARY, BARRACK, HAVN'T HEARD FROM YOU!!!

CRAIG GRAHAM MELBOURNE, FL (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:07 PM)

Social Security is a rip off.  My husband (born in 1943) turned 62 in 2005.  We did not realize that the yearly statements sent to him by social security were just numbers on a page.  For the last two years all we receive are form letters saying you could be working.
No one reads or listens to our appeals.  A hearing before an administrative law judge where we submitted our 1040s showing no income, no 1099s and no w2s were ignored.
My husband turns 65 in March and will be eligible for Medicare will he receive a check to pay the premiums?

Charles Gregersen (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:12 PM)

Here's my plan to fix social security forever.  Everyone 50 years old and older as of Jan 1st 2010 will continue in the SSI program and will be guaranteed all benefits promised to them by the government.  Everyone 25 yrs old to 49 years old as of Jan 1st 2010 would be removed from the SSI program (with no more payroll deductions) and receive a lump sum check for the amount of money they have contributed to the program plus and annual 5% rate of return figured from the 1st year they entered the program.  Everyone 25yrs and younger would be removed from the system without any compensation for what they had contributed so far.  That is my basic idea to fix Social Security.  I understand the numbers may need adjusting and that it will be a financial burden for several years once the pyramid scheme system that is currently funding benefits is ended, but it must be done.  Social Security was never meant to be what it has become and needs to be fixed sooner than later.

Jon, Langhorne, PA (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:13 PM)

I'm just looking our for me and mine, as well as!

John Doe, Seattle, Wash (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:14 PM)

With all the money in SS and AARP is trying to get Congress to appropriate more????

Larry,Moline, ILL (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:16 PM)

I was surprised that there wasn't any mention of the decrease in Casey Kirschlings benefits. Since all government employees that also are recipients of social security will have a redeuction in their ss benefits because they have a state teacher's retirement. What gives-does Maryland have different benefits???????????than California???

Leila Deliman (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:17 PM)

Hooray for Kathleen. If she keeps on working, she will get a raise every year.With all the money in SS and AARP is trying to get Congress to appropriate more????

Larry,Moline, ILL (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:17 PM)

My major concern has always been that social security funds are being given to folks who never paid into the system.  If the government  wants to dole out to the needy, then set aside another program  for those in need.  Most of us who collect have paid into the systemfor 30-40 years.  Yet we have no  say about decisions to  give our funds to other causes.  It's someone delving into my personal bank account.  

Beverly Holt (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:21 PM)

PERHAPS IF TH FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HADN'T BEEN ALLOWED TO BORROW SOCIAL SECURITY FUNDS & NOT PAY THEM BACK, NO AMERICANS WOULDHAVE O WORRY ABOUT COLLECTING.

PAT SWOPE LIBERTY, MO (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:21 PM)

How come she gets her first check in Feb. just one month after her birthday.  I have to wait two months.
Oct. 15th 1945.

Randall Bivens, Gainesville, Ga. (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:22 PM)

The Nazi party will be back in power by 2020

John Adams Boston MA (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:22 PM)

She is not a Baby Boomer; she is a WWII baby conceived during WWII.  Only those boren after May 10 1946 are tru boomers (VJ Day Plus 270 days; do the math)

This is a canard and disses all of us who were conceived after August 14th 1945 and born after May 10, 1946 and are therefor, the real post-WWII baby-boomers; shame on CNN for spreading this lie.

Joe Palmer 5 11 46

joe palmer philadelphia pa (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:29 PM)

Having made it to 61 (something very few did when Social Security was conceived), Ms. Casey-Kirshling can expect to live for ~25 years longer.  She will receive everything she paid into Social Security in the first few years of that time.  After that, she'll be depending on the support of her children and those of her fellow baby-boomers.

How long will the 'Overburdened Generation' be willing to pay into a system to support their long-lived parents at the cost of their ability to support themselves and their children?

We're on the cusp of intergenerational conflict beyond anything we've ever seen in the past.

Mitch Shults, Portland, OR (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:30 PM)

To be a real babybommer you must have been born nine months after VJ day (8 14 1945) or sometime in May 1946.  If not you are simply a WWII baby and conceived during WWII ie up until VJ Day.  Baby Boom is simply the shortened version of "post-WWII Baby-Boom" Those born before May 1946 need not apply

j palmer philadelphia pa (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:31 PM)

I think most boomers will postpone collecting their benefits for several years after their initial eligibility.  Most are still working, and will be for a while longer, and many will want to wait to get a higher benefit a few years down the road.

steve gaulin, cranston, rhode island. (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:32 PM)

I’m so thrilled for the baby boomers. I hope every single American pops on the “silver tsunami” and applies a deserved pat on the back to all of you retirees. Lets be honest, your generation deserves it. Look at all you’ve done for your proceeding generations so far. It’s just gives me overwhelming joy, real genuine joy to help you retire in comfort. As a Gen Xer I would like to extend my kids college savings and my personal 401K to all of you, for your benefit and gain. I invite all X & Yers to join the celebration of the 40 year retirement party for the one and only “Greatest Generation”. I hope all of us can aspire to be included in this group of Americans that coined such phrases as “who ever dies with the most toys wins”, “smoke this and expand your mind” and who can forget my favorite “there should be enough social security until 2041”. In closing, I am so honored to be included in the scheduled group of Americans that will be standing on the shoreline waving, clapping and smiling like a deranged idiots with inside out pockets, welcoming the silver tsunami to crash on top and pummel them through the debris, and, soon to be waste land that was their beloved toys. Take a bow Greatest! You will soon accomplish your mission of leaving this planet victorious! A rich, stoned, retired and resented citizen of the soon to be United States of America, again. Bon freakin voyage.

Aaron, Joplin, MO (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:35 PM)

I really wish the government would just let me keep the money it is taking from me for SS and let me worry about my own retirement.  I could retire a multi-millionare just by putting my SS funds in a mutual-fund and sitting on it for 40 years.  

Jason, Portland, OR (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:46 PM)

Congratulations, but I hope that after a lifetime of my wife and me contributing there will be something left when we retire, not to mention our children!

Greg S., Philadelphia, Pa. (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:49 PM)

"I'm thrilled to think that after all these years that I'm getting paid back the money that I put in,"

I guess so, but only if you like the idea of having someone steal money from your paycheck for decades, and getting a crappy ROI as a "thrill".  This woman should actually be pissed at such a horrible retirement plan she(we) waste money on.   

C.C.Mookey (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:50 PM)

Unlike previous generations, "The Silver Tsunami" has spend its entire working life paying into Social Security and at much higher rate than the generation that preceded it. It's ok..we dodged the Great Depression and World War II. Just a note to let folks know that we are only collecting on the social contract that we made between 18 and 25 when we entered into the workforce.

Bill Whited, Downers Grove IL (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:50 PM)

Really...in front of cameras?  This doesn't sound like a celebration to me, it sounds like the first nail in the coffin of Social Security.  How about bringing the cameras around when my generation starts retiring in the 2040's?  If there's any of our hard earned money left, then we can celebrate!

Mike (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:51 PM)

I'm not waiting around to see if there will be enough money until 2041.  I am working on becoming financially independant so I don't have to depend on social security!

Melissa, Rio Rancho, NM (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:54 PM)

Unless Astrue knows something we don't, I think his claim that "Social Security will be there for future generations" is absolutely ridiculous. I'm 26 and I don't know anyone my age who thinks they'll ever see a dime of Social Security. It's a deduction on our paychecks we've learned to live with and never plan on seeing again. We're banking on our IRA's and investments to carry us past retirement.

Audra, Austin,TX (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 5:58 PM)

Don't believe the Hype!  80 million Americans born in 18 years between '46 and '64 paid into Social Security.  The first application for benefits has begun.  Even if future population rates grew exponentially, they all will have paid into the system before drawing.  The only reason there would never be enough to meet demand is because of mismanagement.  The general public has not been told it's been mismanaged, only that "the baby boom will cripple SS" BS non argument.  WAKE UP AMERICA!

Michael Hurley, Detroit, MI (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 6:09 PM)

your not getting back the money you put in....that money has already been spent....now your stealing from me....

Brian, Milwaukee, WI (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 6:18 PM)

I can't wait!!!!!   5 more years!!!!!  And a woman will show the way!  Thanks.

S. Straub (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 6:24 PM)

Although I honor the fact a child born in 1946 is an "official" boomer, I have to contest Kathleen Casey-Kirschling's rank as the "first boomer" - much less the first boomer to collect Social Security.

You see, my father was born on August 10, 1945 - the day after the second atomic bomb was dropped and essentially the first day of life post-WWII (Aug. 15 was the official surrender). More importantly, my dad's father was not in the country for his birth due to the fact he was on the ship that carried the Enola Gay, which delivered the bombs.

I am proud to say my father collected his first Social Security check last week. Many of his fellow-boomers have not made it to this point - they fell in Vietnam or have succumb to other tragedies like cancer. I am proud he has lived to see this age.

Emily, Charlotte, NC (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 6:25 PM)

Babyboomers Are The Worst Generation Ever They Have Doomed This Country...We are ALL doomed because of those selfish boomers

mike, Dallas Texas (Sent Monday, October 15, 2007 6:26 PM)



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