Lifeguarding in OC: $200,000 (Orange, Newport Beach, Bell: insurance, luxury, wages)

[jwess222]

CAVA1990 is absolutely correct. There are still positions that are seasonal, but the full time lifegaurds in my opinion are worth the money. With that high of a salary the field becomes very competitive so you are going to go for the best qualified candidate. Yeah it seems like cake, just sit on the beach and see if anyone needs help, but when ocean conditions are hazardous and lives need to be saved there are certain skills that need to be had. I know that in some other beach cities with budget cuts that they are having to scale down their lifegaurds which puts a significant risk to non-native beach goers. Drowning can happen in minutes (seconds even) and if they have to drive down a half mile of beach and swim out to get you it can be a problem.

Take a look at the specifications for a lifegaurd captain for Newport Beach. These positions can be attained after having all previously required positions, so these aren't usually 19 year olds who are getting these positions and this description doesn't include all the requirements and competetive testing of lower positions:
City of Newport Beach, CA - Employment Opportunities

and this is for a Marine Safety Officer for the City of Huntington Beach:
City of Huntington Beach, California - Jobs Available

[yeahthatguy]

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Orange County Lifeguards Make $200K Annually, Can Retire at Age 50 With 90% Pay

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by yeahthatguy

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Orange County Lifeguards Make $200K Annually, Can Retire at Age 50 With 90% Pay

Unbelievable, maybe I should have stuck with lifeguarding. It was one of my first summer jobs while in college. Talk about a sweet job for that kind of money. And I thought longshoremen where the most overpaid union workers in CA.

[slo1318]

Absolutely nuts. Am I saying they dont deserve to make $200k? Yes, I am.

Speaking of government waste, I was talking to a buddy last night who had a software company that worked mainly on Fed govt contracts. He gave me a couple sickening stories;

1. His company was hired for a $300,000 contract to create a piece of software for the Social Security Admin. He said the project ended up lasting 8 years and paying his company $9mil. Until.....they cancelled the project before it ever went on line. I guess those things happen all the time, but its sick to think that the predictions are that SS wont be around much longer, and then you see the horrible waste and inefficiency. He said he worked for many small agencies that did obscure things, but even then they would have 2-3,000 employees, who didnt do a whole lot.
2. Part two of the story, I had no idea the Soc Sec admin had over 200,000 employees! He also witnessed this personally. They would often come into the office campus near Baltimore and work through the night, while most people were not there. There is a 4am to noon shift. He said the employees would turn out lights and put their heads on the desk sleeping until management came in later....
In the government there is so much waste, but nobody will do anything because they work together and all feed at the same trough.

[Bulldogdad]

Mother****ing Incredible. I always thought the Hasselhoff was overpaid. LOL

[esmith143]

I had no idea the Soc Sec admin had over 200,000 employees!

First of all, that's 70,000

Social Security Online - Social Security Organizational Structure and Functional Information

Second of all, that's 1 employee per 4,000 clients. What would you consider an adequate ratio?

Aetna (the health insurance company) serves a much smaller fraction of Americans and it has 34,000 full time employees.

[esmith143]

Originally Posted by yeahthatguy

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Orange County Lifeguards Make $200K Annually, Can Retire at Age 50 With 90% Pay

Let's restate this more accurately, shall we? "In Newport Beach, California, full-time lifeguards (a division of fire department) average a little over $100K/year before benefits but after overtime. They are paid this money because each lifeguard saves an average of 150 drowning people per year. Under a certain accounting scheme which includes everything from payroll taxes to employer 401k matching, which is never used for private employees but only for public employees, two of these lifeguards who collected most overtime in 2010 cost more than $200k/year to the city."

But I'm sure that Mish would prefer that firefighters and lifeguards did their jobs for minimum wage and ate cat food.

[yeahthatguy]

Originally Posted by esmith143

Let's restate this more accurately, shall we? "In Newport Beach, California, full-time lifeguards (a division of fire department) average a little over $100K/year before benefits but after overtime. They are paid this money because each lifeguard saves an average of 150 drowning people per year. Under a certain accounting scheme which includes everything from payroll taxes to employer 401k matching, which is never used for private employees but only for public employees, two of these lifeguards who collected most overtime in 2010 cost more than $200k/year to the city."

But I'm sure that Mish would prefer that firefighters and lifeguards did their jobs for minimum wage and ate cat food.

Lets restate and quote the link...
Lifeguarding in OC is totally lucrative; some make over $200k - Orange Punch - The Orange County Register

According to a city report on lifeguard pay for the calendar year 2010, of the 14 full-time lifeguards,
13 collected more than $120,000 in total compensation;
One lifeguard collected $98,160.65.


Even excluding benefits like health care and pension, more than half the lifeguards receive a total salary, including overtime pay, exceeding $100,000. And they also receive an annual allowance of $400 for “Sun Protection.” Many work four days a week, 10 hours a day.

There is no denying that lifeguards protect swimmers and play a vital safety role in protecting numerous beachgoers every year. In 2010, the total number of rescues by Newport Beach lifeguards was 2,190. Even so, these salaries seem too generous, and the compensation levels don’t appear fiscally sane.

Lifeguards are able to retire with 90 percent of their salary, after only 30 years of work at as early as the age of 50.


No need to add your extra verbiage, appeal to extreme, or personal attacks. The above are quoted statements from the article and fact. Discuss it if you have an opinion.

[bouncethelight]

Originally Posted by esmith143

Let's restate this more accurately, shall we? "In Newport Beach, California, full-time lifeguards (a division of fire department) average a little over $100K/year before benefits but after overtime. They are paid this money because each lifeguard saves an average of 150 drowning people per year. Under a certain accounting scheme which includes everything from payroll taxes to employer 401k matching, which is never used for private employees but only for public employees, two of these lifeguards who collected most overtime in 2010 cost more than $200k/year to the city."

But I'm sure that Mish would prefer that firefighters and lifeguards did their jobs for minimum wage and ate cat food.

Newport Beach, California is also one of the most expensive places to live in the United States, and I believe that it's the number one most expensive place to buy a house. 100K a year is definitely the low end of the spectrum in that area. And these lifeguards save 150 drowning people per year? That salary doesn't sound out of line at all.

[killer2021]

Its the government, what do you expect? Why do you think we have a budget deficit. This type of non-sense happens in every agency of the government. Thats why its much more efficient to privatize government. Realistically, the lifeguards should be contracted. Have multiple companies bid on the contracts maybe for 5 year gigs. As long as the bidding process is not corrupt, the prices should drop. I am sure they could find plenty of lifeguard who will gladly work for 20-30k/year.

Newport Beach, California is also one of the most expensive places to live in the United States, and I believe that it's the number one most expensive place to buy a house. 100K a year is definitely the low end of the spectrum in that area. And these lifeguards save 150 drowning people per year? That salary doesn't sound out of line at all.

The location doesn't matter. What matters is letting the free market dictate the wage. If no one shows up to do the job at 30-40-50k/year and the only wage where people will do the job is at 100k/year then I guess its justified. However, I definitely know people will be lined up around the block to be a lifeguard even at 20-30k/year.

Absolutely nuts. Am I saying they dont deserve to make $200k? Yes, I am.

Speaking of government waste, I was talking to a buddy last night who had a software company that worked mainly on Fed govt contracts. He gave me a couple sickening stories;

1. His company was hired for a $300,000 contract to create a piece of software for the Social Security Admin. He said the project ended up lasting 8 years and paying his company $9mil. Until.....they cancelled the project before it ever went on line. I guess those things happen all the time, but its sick to think that the predictions are that SS wont be around much longer, and then you see the horrible waste and inefficiency. He said he worked for many small agencies that did obscure things, but even then they would have 2-3,000 employees, who didnt do a whole lot.
2. Part two of the story, I had no idea the Soc Sec admin had over 200,000 employees! He also witnessed this personally. They would often come into the office campus near Baltimore and work through the night, while most people were not there. There is a 4am to noon shift. He said the employees would turn out lights and put their heads on the desk sleeping until management came in later....
In the government there is so much waste, but nobody will do anything because they work together and all feed at the same trough.

Wow you think thats bad? My brother was in kuwait and repaired Humvees. He fixed all the electronics. By fix I mean ripping it out and installing new equipment. Didn't matter if it was broken. It didn't even matter if it was BRAND NEW. He would rip out brand new equipment throw it in the trash and replace it with a new one. The reason they did this was because the contractor supplying the equipment had a contract to deliver xyz amount of goods. It didn't matter if they needed it or not.