Multi-Millionaire Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein Says Americans Should Work Longer and Receive Fewer Benefits

Friday, November 23, 2012
Lloyd Blankfein

Solving the long-term solvency problem of Social Security will mean Americans retiring later in life and receiving fewer benefits, according to one Wall Street tycoon who received $16 million in compensation in 2011.

 

Lloyd Blankfein, the enormously wealthy CEO of Goldman Sachs, recently told CBS News that “the retirement age has to be changed.” He also remarked that “maybe some of the benefits have to be affected; maybe some of the inflation adjustments have to be revised. But in general, entitlements have to be slowed down and contained.”

 

Blankfein, who owns $210 million worth of Goldman Sachs stock, defended his suggestions by claiming that “Social Security wasn’t devised to be a system that supported you for a 30-year retirement after a 25-year career.”

 

This remark prompted a big “huh” among many who saw Blankfein’s interview. A 25-year career? If most Americans only worked 25 years, that would mean they were retiring in their forties.

 

And if they spent at least 30 years in retirement, that would mean Americans are living until their mid-80s or mid-90s. The reality is that the average life expectancy of Americans is currently 78 years old.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

To Learn More:

Why Rich Guys Want To Raise The Retirement Age (by Ezra Klein, Washington Post)

You Think You're Getting Social Security But You're Not, Says Multimillionaire Banker (by Jim Naureckas, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting)

Goldman Sachs CEO: Entitlements Must Be Contained (by Scott Pelley, CBS Evening News)

Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein Hires Defense Lawyer (by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Obama Defends Bank CEO Bonuses (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

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Comments

Edward Peterson 11 years ago
Blankbrain doesn't know what he's talking about. He lives on another Planet. I worked 54 years to earn my SS benefits not 25. And I'm sure most of the workers in my generation did too (a few more or less). How long did Goldman Sachs work to get almot a billion $ bailout. Until you know what you're talking about, keep your stupid mouth shut.
matforce 11 years ago
Nothing on God’s green earth will advance the subjugation of the USA and its citizens or threaten our sovereignty more than this steady move toward Plutocracy. The insidious use of BIG $$$ by the Plutocrats to influence our legislature for policies that have benefitted their bottom line has opened the floodgates for our magnificent industrial base to be flung to the four winds, our working class to be kicked to the curb, and our financial industry to become dependent of the derivatives from slave labor abroad, while the middle class languishes and more and more of our citizens slip into poverty. Ironically, the very people who should be up in arms about all of this, the massive, voiceless, under-represented, and powerless middle class, has had their attention diverted from the true nature of the economic treason perpetrated against them, thanks in large part to their naiveté and willingness to believe the lies of the political party that has abandoned them in favor of the perpetrators, and partly because of the non-stop litany of half-truths, untruths, and fear mongering; the parroting of the well-crafted cries of outrage that feed their audience’s prejudices. The party that promotes the furtherance of blind capitalism, favors the elite, and believes competition in a free market is the key to prosperity and the answer for all of our woes would not lift a finger to level the playing field that we find ourselves in, competing with sweatshops for jobs while these cheap products flood our shores, tariff-free, driving Made In USA out of business unless we follow suit; cut costs to the bone, and reduce wages here. Most Americans heard about the human rights violations of Red China, but figured that was China’s problem; no skin off my behind… Now these very slave labor forces are bringing the mighty USA to its knees because our Plutocrats are exploiting them for all they’re worth, as they exploit the middle class consumer market with this cheap shyt they’ve shipped back home, even as they receive tax money (loopholes, exemptions, etc.) to help offset the cost of setting up shop on foreign soil, then park their vast wealth in offshore accounts. In their position of absolute servitude, our GOP, attempting to reduce taxes and give even more breaks to their corporate overlords so they can spare them even the slightest “burden” of contributing ANYTHING to the greatest nation on earth is attacking the public sector, and doing its best to starve off those programs that help our most needy, even as they undermine the only hope the USA has for solvency; namely a prosperous middle class with a decent pay from which taxes are garnered right off of their checks. (You can’t expect the entitled rich to contribute anything; even though they rake in close to 50% of the nation’s wealth, they cry foul that they pay in 40% of its taxes) The GOP further propagates the message that paying taxes to the beautiful USA is for chumps, and would have us believe, through some kind of reverse psychology, that the USA Government is the enemy. Diabolically twisted!
William Eck 11 years ago
This guy would look good in an orange jump suit.
Bunk Fiend 11 years ago
talk about drawing a blank, pass the deodorant plz
Helen 11 years ago
That people like him are still alive is they absolute proof that most killings are an inside job. People who "threaten" the people "in power" are killed off on a daily basis. 'People' who threaten the very existence of the world-population can just live on. What are we going to do about this?
Barry 11 years ago
Amazing how news chanels interview people and don't have the faintest idea of what the subject matter is. Most people work for about 45 years and contribute to their retirement by one means or another. Here you have a CEO who takes bailout money to the tune of 10 billion from the tax payer and then tries to tell others to work harder to support his stupidity - the networks are lame.
gmathol 11 years ago
The same guys told the Germans in Europe that they would have to work longer. The Germans did. Then they told the Germans to travel less. The Germans did. Now the same guys asking for more consumption, in order to boost the economy. Swiss has a referendum this month which asked for less benefits and for managers. By the way Swiss managers pay into the public unemployment insurance already. That is what a real sane democracy looks like.
Vinny 11 years ago
It's a shame that we have to hear this. It's like a Shark saying he hates being a Shark. Why should we invest in GS if they are already letting us know that they aren't worth our time?
howard T. Lewis III 11 years ago
HEY! Cut Blankfein some slack. That way his neck will snap when he reaches the end of his rope.
Joan B. 11 years ago
What planet did this out of touch lifeform come from???? Surely not planet earth. I am semi-retired, got a two year degree in the 60s, worked since I was 20 years of age, and I am now in my 60s! I am still working part-time, and have an 89 year old mother to care for. I didn't retire until I was 64...and I earned every penny of my social security. This is why we need to reform the banking system, and keep money out of politics.

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