Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-22-2015, 04:29 PM   #41
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,205
Just a couple of thoughts....


A lot of these pensions cannot be changed easily.... I remember a few years back there was a constitutional vote in Texas that would not allow gvmt entities to reduce pensions.... and from what I read about the various court cases around the country it seems to be common in many (maybe most) states... so first, you will have to change the constitution of a state that would allow any reduction...


About salaries... I did not read the article, but one of my sisters called me when she read an article that said the avg salary of a deputy Sheriff was $128K... WHAT That means that a pension that can approach $100K is not that hard to get....


But, to the OP first post.... I do not have a pension so I did not factor one in my number.... I did look at 100% SS for me.... but did ignore DW match...
Texas Proud is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 11-22-2015, 04:31 PM   #42
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,248
Quote:
Originally Posted by utrecht View Post
Those situations give all the other reasonable public pensions a bad name and its no wonder why California is in such bad shape.
And that as I wrote many posts ago is a biggest thread to some public pensions.

I have no problem that those jobs for most part require High School education only. I understand many of them are brave guys doing tough and dangerous work.

But the greed that some of them should get 130k pension at age 50 and hire their kids into their job.....that greed is a big risk to their Public Pension because it is not financially sustainable.

You can complain about my post... It is just my opinion.

Good night to you my friends!
eta2020 is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 04:36 PM   #43
Moderator
rodi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: San Diego
Posts: 14,171
Quote:
Originally Posted by eta2020 View Post
No disrespect Rodi, but that sounds like character from one of the Steven Seagal's movies
No disrespect taken - he also is an entrepreneur who appeared on Shark Tank - they said he was the most impressive person they'd seen. He's pretty amazing... The whole family is pretty amazing.
__________________
Retired June 2014. No longer an enginerd - now I'm just a nerd.
micro pensions 6%, rental income 20%
rodi is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 04:40 PM   #44
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 2,288
Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas Proud View Post
Just a couple of thoughts....


A lot of these pensions cannot be changed easily.... I remember a few years back there was a constitutional vote in Texas that would not allow gvmt entities to reduce pensions.... and from what I read about the various court cases around the country it seems to be common in many (maybe most) states... so first, you will have to change the constitution of a state that would allow any reduction...


About salaries... I did not read the article, but one of my sisters called me when she read an article that said the avg salary of a deputy Sheriff was $128K... WHAT That means that a pension that can approach $100K is not that hard to get....


But, to the OP first post.... I do not have a pension so I did not factor one in my number.... I did look at 100% SS for me.... but did ignore DW match...
Salaries for police officers and deputies vary wildly around the country depending mostly on cost of living, but I can guarantee you that there is no large county in Texas where the avg deputy sheriff makes $128K.
utrecht is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 04:50 PM   #45
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Rustic23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Lake Livingston, Tx
Posts: 4,203
Here is the listing for Harris County, TX i.e. Houston.

http://www.hcsojobs.com/Salary.aspx

Looks like a Senior Deputy makes $66,000 a year. There could be overtime and stuff added, but that is a 20 year deputy.
__________________
If it is after 5:00 when I post I reserve the right to disavow anything I posted.
Rustic23 is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 04:58 PM   #46
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
steelyman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NC Triangle
Posts: 5,807
Adding to some of the remarks in defense of public/govt employees: the advice to "invest in your retirement plan up to the company match" doesn't mean much to those who don't get any match (I didn't, I can say that for sure).

I never hear anyone referring to "gold-plated", "bloated", "Cadillac" matches, though.
__________________

steelyman is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 05:24 PM   #47
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 9,358
The teamsters are not public pension funds but federal law has been changed in order to deal with their shortfalls:

"Cutting retirees’ pensions had been illegal—until late last year when the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act was passed. That allows trustees of severely underfunded multiemployer plans to cut pensioners’ income, ending more than four decades of protection under federal law."

Proposed draconian cuts to Teamsters' pensions draws fire from retirees, who vow action - Article from Logistics Management
__________________
Even clouds seem bright and breezy, 'Cause the livin' is free and easy, See the rat race in a new way, Like you're wakin' up to a new day (Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether lyrics, Alan Parsons Project, based on an EA Poe story)
daylatedollarshort is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
mass pension
Old 11-22-2015, 06:04 PM   #48
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 125
mass pension

to Nun, the Massachusetts pension is also one of the nations cheapest, only regular income, no sweeteners and poorly indexed for inflation, only 3 % of the first 13000$ so will not keep up with inflation over the years, and is still poorly funded but some make up provisions have been added, no one will get rich off of this.
highlow65 is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 06:49 PM   #49
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 319
I think public pensions as a whole are too varied to put them all into the same bucket. As has been mentioned in previous posts, some retirees can't collect SS, while salaries in some states are way different than others. In NY, I believe the teacher and police pensions are more generous than in many other states, and the salaries are also pretty high. There is a good website where you can see all public salaries and pensions:

SeeThroughNY :: Home

A guy I went to school with is a detective in Nassau County and his salary last year was over $200k. He has about 25 years on the force and can retire right now at 50 with a pension over $100k.

My wife teaches in NY and like all NY teachers, has a Masters degree and also has over 60+ continuing education credits. She will be able to retire at 55 with about a $90k pension, with 100% survivor benefits, and it is inflation adjusted for the first $18k. She will also be able to collect SS at 62 if she decides to take it early. Unlike many of her co-workers, she works very hard and puts in lots of time when not at school. What I disagree with is that she only had to pay 3% of her salary for the first 10 years to get what amounts to about a $1.5M-2M annuity. The tax payers in NY are basically paying for that difference. Public employees should be paying more into the fund or the property taxes will continue to skyrocket (ours are currently about $15k, with 70% of that paying the school taxes alone). We live in a small 1960s ranch house.

My company was recently acquired and the new company did away with the cash balance pension. They will contribute an extra 2% into the 401k. After over 20 years with the company, I can barely buy a semi-decent car with the pension if I took a lump sum. Go figure.
__________________
To endure the unbridled micromanagement of one's time on this earth, whether paid or unpaid, is to offer up one's soul to a paradigm of increasing tyranny, exploitation and indignity.
kjpliny is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 07:00 PM   #50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Chuckanut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,173
A quick question for those of you who worked in a public pension system that did NOT pay into the Federal Social Security system.

Was or is there any requirement that the dollars not paid into SS (both employee and employer) be put into the pension system so as to make up for missing SS benefits?
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy

The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
Chuckanut is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 07:34 PM   #51
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
nun's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,872
Quote:
Originally Posted by highlow65 View Post
to Nun, the Massachusetts pension is also one of the nations cheapest, only regular income, no sweeteners and poorly indexed for inflation, only 3 % of the first 13000$ so will not keep up with inflation over the years, and is still poorly funded but some make up provisions have been added, no one will get rich off of this.
The 70% current funding has resulted from a poor record of funding from the state, which is now being corrected. As my pension from MA will only be $20k quite a large fraction of it will be COLA'ed. People with 30 years of service can retire on 80% of salary, but the COLA is only on the first $13k. But if you are a top earner like a senior police executive or a doctor at the medical school it's still a nice amount.
__________________
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Current AA: 75% Equity Funds / 15% Bonds / 5% Stable Value /2% Cash / 3% TIAA Traditional
Retired Mar 2014 at age 52, target WR: 0.0%,
Income from pension and rent
nun is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 07:36 PM   #52
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
nun's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,872
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuckanut View Post
A quick question for those of you who worked in a public pension system that did NOT pay into the Federal Social Security system.

Was or is there any requirement that the dollars not paid into SS (both employee and employer) be put into the pension system so as to make up for missing SS benefits?
Not in MA. The state pension contribution is required as a condition of the SS opt out. Highly paid employees get the choice of either the state defined benefit pension or a defined contribution plan. The state does strongly encourage further tax deferred saving via 457 and 403b contributions.
__________________
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Current AA: 75% Equity Funds / 15% Bonds / 5% Stable Value /2% Cash / 3% TIAA Traditional
Retired Mar 2014 at age 52, target WR: 0.0%,
Income from pension and rent
nun is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 07:49 PM   #53
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: seattle/dahlonega
Posts: 77
nobody likes a pension until they get one
hurricane harry is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 07:52 PM   #54
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Mulligan's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 9,343
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuckanut View Post
A quick question for those of you who worked in a public pension system that did NOT pay into the Federal Social Security system.

Was or is there any requirement that the dollars not paid into SS (both employee and employer) be put into the pension system so as to make up for missing SS benefits?

Our system requires higher payments from both sides than SS does. 14.5% contribution from employer and employee.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Mulligan is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 08:10 PM   #55
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,821
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jpg1717 View Post
I am a retired Firefighter ( college graduate),and not a millionaire. We earned our pensions ( two of my co-workers were burned to death fighting a fire last year).Eta 2020 -you should be more careful with your uninformed comments.
Perhaps you do not understand the 'millionaire' comment. It's not a judgement, just a financial statement.

Most public pensions are COLA'd to some degree. Many here would tell you to not withdraw more than 3.5% from a portfolio if you might need it to last for a long retirement.

That means that a $35,000 pension would require a million dollars to invest. So yes, it is reasonable to describe anyone with a COLA'd pension of $35,000 or more as 'millionaires'.

Or try to buy a COLA'd annuity (hard to find). See what they want for $35,000 COLA'd.

-ERD50
ERD50 is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 08:42 PM   #56
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
youbet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,151
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuckanut View Post
A quick question for those of you who worked in a public pension system that did NOT pay into the Federal Social Security system.

Was or is there any requirement that the dollars not paid into SS (both employee and employer) be put into the pension system so as to make up for missing SS benefits?
No for Illinois.
__________________
"I wasn't born blue blood. I was born blue-collar." John Wort Hannam
youbet is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 09:09 PM   #57
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Toledo
Posts: 52
Erd50 Perhaps you do not understand that if I die next week, my wife does not get a million dollars. She gets a very small Widows monthly stipend, that is not even close to my monthly pension.Whereas in your analogy the guy taking annually 3.5 % of his million will leave his Widow as a millionaire if he dies next week. We all need to please deal with the facts only.
Jpg1717 is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 09:21 PM   #58
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 9,358
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jpg1717 View Post
Erd50 Perhaps you do not understand that if I die next week, my wife does not get a million dollars. She gets a very small Widows monthly stipend, that is not even close to my monthly pension.Whereas in your analogy the guy taking annually 3.5 % of his million will leave his Widow as a millionaire if he dies next week. We all need to please deal with the facts only.
Your pension value then is closer to the cost of a single annuity with inflation protection. Look up what it would cost to buy on the private market and that is the value.
__________________
Even clouds seem bright and breezy, 'Cause the livin' is free and easy, See the rat race in a new way, Like you're wakin' up to a new day (Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether lyrics, Alan Parsons Project, based on an EA Poe story)
daylatedollarshort is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 09:46 PM   #59
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Toledo
Posts: 52
We do not need to look up the cost of a private annuity. I do not need an annuity . I have a pension. I thought this was an online early retirement community? Why are some people criticizing their fellow members of this community whom chose to reach early retirement by putting their lives on the line,protecting their fellow citizens for 30 years,and retiring with a pension?
Jpg1717 is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Old 11-22-2015, 09:46 PM   #60
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 9,358
For a pension with full COLA like SS, you can get an idea and possibly extrapolate the value from this WSJ article:

"A 50-year-old man, for example, might have accrued a Social Security benefit worth $1,750 a month at full retirement age. Assuming annual cost-of-living adjustments of 2% a year and a life expectancy of 90, the present value of his Social Security benefits would be $588,551 if he starts taking them at age 62, and $802,039 if he begins at 70, says William Meyer, founder of Social Security Solutions, a Leawood, Kan., financial-planning firm.

To generate the same amount of income they would be receiving from Social Security taken at age 70, the individual would have to pay $436, 517 today into an immediate annuity, says Mr. Meyer."

Conquering Retirement: How Much Is Social Security Worth? - WSJ
__________________
Even clouds seem bright and breezy, 'Cause the livin' is free and easy, See the rat race in a new way, Like you're wakin' up to a new day (Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether lyrics, Alan Parsons Project, based on an EA Poe story)
daylatedollarshort is offline   Reply With Quote Reply
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Can we retire now? How to factor in risk of rental real estate? sunsnow FIRE and Money 25 05-28-2012 08:07 AM
Illinois Public Pensions youbet FIRE and Money 128 04-04-2010 11:28 PM
More Cheery News: Public Pensions in deep doo doo clifp FIRE and Money 57 10-15-2009 06:33 AM
Public Pensions Bankrupt??? jerryo FIRE and Money 46 08-12-2006 06:20 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:30 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.