The first baby boomer starts drawing Social Security next month . . . just in case you missed any of the hundreds of news articles that have appeared in the past few months. Kathleen Casey-Kirschling will get her first check in January. This, in turn, will kick off a demographic “tidal wave” as boomers clean out every last dollar in the Social Security program.

I like a good news peg as much as the next guy, but the Casey-Kirschling story is way over-cooked.

Yes, 78 million or so boomers will retire and begin drawing Social Security . . . over the next 18 years! They will not be asking for their money all at once. And if boomers really do work far past traditional retirement age–as all the surveys suggest–they will wait even longer to start drawing their Social Security checks.

Paul Krugman of the New York Times has good comments on the hype surrounding Social Security here.

Tags | baby boomers, media, Social Security