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People on public pensions were promised these plans if they put 20+ years in and do a good job. They earned them and deserve to be paid. I know some personally who absolutely hated their jobs, but stayed so they could get their pension. I blame the cities for promising these people something that they knew would cause this problem later on. There is no way away around it, taxes have to be raised. It is not fair to people who are not getting a pension, which includes me, but then again life is not fair. It would be more unfair to screw these people over.
People on public pensions ... I know some personally who ... I blame the cities
Who, exactly, are these "cities"? Names and addresses please. Who, exactly, voted themselves these public pensions? Names and addresses please.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katie the heartbreaker
There is no way away around it, taxes have to be raised.
To a large extent, people and policymakers have decided that debt financing is a more flexible tool than tax financing, even if it means a tainted money supply.
True, life is not fair, and good advice is don't expect it to be.
People on public pensions were promised these plans if they put 20+ years in and do a good job. They earned them and deserve to be paid. I know some personally who absolutely hated their jobs, but stayed so they could get their pension. I blame the cities for promising these people something that they knew would cause this problem later on. There is no way away around it, taxes have to be raised. It is not fair to people who are not getting a pension, which includes me, but then again life is not fair. It would be more unfair to screw these people over.
Problem is many of these states, cities, and other municipalities continue to offer pensions. Louisiana is one such state. In LA, you can vest after 5 years and get a nice pension. It is time for taxpayers to revolt..
Many of my friends were teachers in the midwest who have now retired with these over the top pensions. A few years ago everything changed and the districts came to their financial senses, new hires came in and will not be receiving the same pensions my friends get.
Many of my friends were teachers in the midwest who have now retired with these over the top pensions. A few years ago everything changed and the districts came to their financial senses, new hires came in and will not be receiving the same pensions my friends get.
Exactly. In Minnesota, the first wave of retirees became vested after only 3 years of work. Now it is 5 years to get vested. And the benefits are not as high as places like California and Illinois. Someone working 25 years will get only 42.5% of their final five-year average monthly salary. So, someone who retired at $4,000/month (average of final five years) may be getting $1,700/month in retirement. Someone working only 10 years receives 17% of their final five-year average income.
Someone in an earlier post demanded examples of cities that have unsustainable pensions. Some California cities are notorious. Just go to the California sub-forum and do a search on "retirement pension". People have posted about the ridiculous pensions promised to city employees, more specifically police and fire department workers. Many have monthly income that exceeds the salary they had while working. (We are talking in the $150,000/year or $12k-13k/month range.) As Edward Abbey famously stated: “There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California.” Just do a websearch on the California Rule.
This topic always exposes jealously. You chose your career and they chose theirs. If you are in a field that has been relentlessly minimizing your value go for it at your own risk.
Lowering the bar is exactly what the system has trained you to believe.
CA (and other states) pensions systems are in big trouble and are unsustainable. It will be interesting to see what happens when funding levels fall to the point of no return. They are almost there and mismanagement will certainly assure they arrive there at some point.
Same in CT. And as soon as many of the state employees retire, they move out and take their pensions with them.
Same in CT. And as soon as many of the state employees retire, they move out and take their pensions with them.
This is what infuriates me. My BIL was a CA firefighter (who rarely saw action, by his own admission) and retired 20 years ago with one of those huge pensions. Yet all he could do was badmouth CA and beat it for Texas. The hypocrisy. He had a sign in his RV:
"Not born in TX but got here as soon as I could".
Top person I met had a military pension for serving in the guards, a pension from the city police and a pension from county correctional facilities.
When California was trying to raise money for the fire fighters it was soon realized that one of the hardworking firefighters pictured drew an annual pension of $340K a year that had been pumped up in the last years by overtime amounts that essentially meant this guy did nothing put sleep less than 8 hours a day and worked and nothing else for a couple of years.
That's almost $1,000 a day to do nothing.
There's caring for someone in their old age, and then there's ridiculousness. I can't wait to relocate primary statehood back to SD where they have actually funded their modest pension program for their employees.
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