That would serve a somewhat different purpose than Social Security—a lower income throughout life rather than a higher income in retirement. Regardless, though

That would serve a somewhat different purpose than Social Security—a lower income throughout life rather than a higher income in retirement. Regardless, though, it seems like there should be relatively elegant options for achieving both objectives with one system if we want to. Perhaps just increase the basic income after some age. (That sets off some warning bells in my head, though—it could be a step toward complexity and means testing.)