I believe you can collect SS at age 65 no matter how much you earn. But you begin paying taxes on it when your income moves above $35,000 or so.
I think upping the age to 70, gradually, makes some sense. They've already done that to some extent. I'm 52 and won't be able to get my full SS benefit until I'm almost 67. Details here.
Rather than moving the retirement age to 70, I'd rather raise the income level at which current wage earners no longer pay SS tax. ($102,000 in 2008). source
Increase the $102,000 to $150,000 or $200,000 and the SS fund will remain solvent into infinity.
But first we should probably just wait and watch. Wait another five or ten years and see how the forecasts are doing. As it is, the SS trust fund is solvent through 2041, and the date moves around depending on how the economy does. If by 2015 or so it looks like 2041 is not moving farther out into the future, we may need to take measures.
Social Security is not in crisis, it may not even need any tweaking at all.
Now Medicare...that's another story.
