Got a pension? What is it in comparison to your last paycheck? (vacation, husband)
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Not that I am not on your side but where does your public sector employer get the money from to pay your salary. Most of us get ours from tax revenues of one sort or the other. Just curious if yours is from grant money which some are etc. Which is a great point if so. Numerous public employees have positions funded by grants etc.
There are thousands of energy related jobs in this country, TVA, BPA, and city municipal power companies to name a few.
I specifically moved out here for a job that had a pension. I could have stayed at a private company and made a higher salary or traveled around seeing the country working for contractors. Good benefits like a pension are the only way power companies are able to obtain and keep employees these days. It's a dangerous job and kids don't want to work outside, they'd rather be playing on the computer.
Like us.
The part you didn't share is that the agency also contributes. And the actuarial assumptions coupled with generous formulaes have resulted in funding level projected shortfalls that are significant and in some cases they will hit the point of no return.
Oregon has that problem. Their original PERS was supposed to be 50% employee funded and 50% agency funded. Each side kicked in 6% of the employee gross pay, and employees dutifully contributed their 6%. However, the state didn't contribute anything. They kicked the debt down the road and promised to pay up when the employees retired. That worked great while tax revenues were going up 10% a year, but a couple of recessions and a stagnant economy had them crying rape. They cancelled the whole system in 2003, converting to an entirely employee-funded 401k-style system, but they still have people retiring who were hired in 1986. I think they have to pony up an extra $5 billion this year to meet their obligation. If they had funded the system when the pensions were earned, they wouldn't have to come up with anything.
You hear a lot of screaming from the USPS about having to fully fund their pension system. Congress knows well that if they don't fund the pensions when they are earned, the taxpayer will get hung with the bill. What do you want to bet that as soon as the USPS has billions of dollars in its pension fund, Congress will figure out how to spend it?
A variation on the same scam is why SS is "running out of money." Boomers paid extra SS taxes for 35 years to fund their retirement benefits, but Congress spent the money as soon as it came in. They issued federal treasury notes to cover the money they took, and congress now owes the SS system $2.6 trillion. They are trying to say "there is no SS trust fund" because paying it back will require raising taxes and shrinking government, but their only option is to come up with the money or default on the federal debt. They are already whimpering because SS is only breaking even and not providing more money they can hide off-books.
Exactly - that's how you get good employees with low turnover. If they can afford to do it then that says a lot about how much greater profits companies like Walmart are getting, at the cost of their employees. Pensions can serve a very valuable purpose but the funds have to be handled responsibly.
Yes, Walmart pays the Waltons billions of dollars a year on the backs of their employees, but they are currently faced with declining sales, while companies like Winco and Costco are treating employees great and expanding sales steadily. I'm sure I'm not the only American who sees Walmart as a retailer of last resort and will shop anywhere else if I can. I dropped a couple grand at Costco last year on hearing aids and glasses. Not only do they treat their employees well, but their prices are 50% of what I would pay anywhere else.
I'm currently battling to find out - from Social Security - how much my benefit will be. I work for a government entity that "opted out" in the 1980s. Thankfully, I had my 40 credits and have been able to save over the years.
This decision - to opt out - was made by people making high five and six figures. Who most likely would never need Social Security.
I have many coworkers who have NEVER worked for a place that paid into Social Security. Their paychecks are so low - they may never retire because they cannot save.
When asking Social Security how much my actual benefit will be - I get "it's just a guess" you'll get 50%
It should not be a guessing game.
If I can figure out what my portfolio will give me - I should be able to do the same with my Social Security.
Read your mail. You get a statement from SS every year.
Yes, Walmart pays the Waltons billions of dollars a year on the backs of their employees, but they are currently faced with declining sales, while companies like Winco and Costco are treating employees great and expanding sales steadily. I'm sure I'm not the only American who sees Walmart as a retailer of last resort and will shop anywhere else if I can. I dropped a couple grand at Costco last year on hearing aids and glasses. Not only do they treat their employees well, but their prices are 50% of what I would pay anywhere else.
I imagine Walmart also pays it's Board of Directors pretty good as well. How much compensation did Hillary get, I wonder.
Yes, Walmart pays the Waltons billions of dollars a year on the backs of their employees, but they are currently faced with declining sales, while companies like Winco and Costco are treating employees great and expanding sales steadily. I'm sure I'm not the only American who sees Walmart as a retailer of last resort and will shop anywhere else if I can. I dropped a couple grand at Costco last year on hearing aids and glasses. Not only do they treat their employees well, but their prices are 50% of what I would pay anywhere else.
In 1986, Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, had a problem. He was under growing pressure from shareholders — and his wife, Helen — to appoint a woman to the company’s 15-member board of directors.
So Mr. Walton turned to a young lawyer who just happened to be married to the governor of Arkansas, where Wal-Mart is based: Hillary Rodham Clinton.
So next I suspect will be the pay for play suggestion. But then that is another forum and not this one discussion so maybe not!
Public service retirement for us is 2.3%. So about 69% of salary at 30 years of service.
Last edited by treasuremapper; 08-14-2016 at 12:23 PM..
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