FairTax Overview
Senior citizens are becoming a larger portion of the overall population and the vast majority of them
are much better off under the FairTax.
In 1970, those over 65 years of age were 9.8 percent of the population. By 2000, seniors were 12.4
percent of the population. In 2012, seniors made up 13.3% of the population, just shy of 42 million.49
The number of seniors 2030 is projected to be twice as large as their counterparts in 2000, growing
from 35 million to 72 million and representing nearly 20 percent of the total U.S. population. From
2030 onward, the proportion age 65 and over will be relatively stable, at around 20 percent, even
though the absolute number of people age 65 and over is projected to continue to grow.
Seniors as a percent of total U.S. population
25.0
20.3
20.0
16.3
15.0
10.0
9.8
11.3
12.5
12.4
13.0
1990
2000
2010
5.0
0.0
1970
1980
2020
2030
As would be expected, the average household income of persons over 65 – retirees no longer in the
workplace, for the most part – is about 64 percent of the average of all households. 50 However, 6.7
million seniors or 16 percent are in the labor force. A smaller proportion of seniors are poor than in the
population in general, 9 percent for seniors compared to 15 percent for the population in general. 51
Complying with the current tax system is often more burdensome for persons after they retire
than when they were working.
Retirees turning to their savings and Social Security for income face new tax calculations and
complications. Most withdrawals from individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans are taxable.
People over 70½ years old must take required minimum distributions – and usually pay tax as a result –
even if they would have preferred not to. Furthermore, any income received over the course of the year,
including those 401(k) and IRA distributions, affects whether taxes will be owed on Social Security
49
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, Table 3. Release date, December 2012.
US Census, “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010”, Sept., 2011, Table A-1.
51
Ibid.
TP
PT
50
T
T
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