Sorry for the looong post, but...
The problem with pensions being the "sweetener" is that they are vulnerable to politicians not funding them adequately in the present time and the next generation being responsible for promises being made today.
I'd like to see govt DBP pensions eliminated (phased out gracefully over time) and the compensation packages sweetened to attract plenty of qualified applicants. In this way, we'd be on a pay as you go basis instead of always building up huge debts for the next generation.
The public pension plan that I'm under operates "pay as you go". I paid in 4.5% of my wages for 30+ years, and my employer paid in a similar %. The day I retired I quit paying into the plan......and so did my employer! Neither myself
nor my employer will
ever pay in another nickel to cover
my pension.
I realize that not all public pension plans are like that, maybe not even most, but mine is.
An old saying "they check in but never check out" would describe government workers. It's very, very hard to leave a government job since benefits and pay increase significantly with time. The longer the stay, the better the benefit. They complain about the lower pay, the bureaucracy, and lousy assignments but continue to stay.
I don't think that's confined only to the public sector. I think it's more a matter of perspective......'the grass being greener on the other side of the fence'. Maybe the private sector looks over and thinks that the public sector [-]has it made in the shade[/-] is better off than they themselves. But the public sector does the same thing while looking over the fence at the private sector. Just a matter of perspective.
If unions don't like it, it is probably good for the taxpayer.
You mean my Union was against me (a taxpayer) for all those years by fighting for higher wages, better working conditions, and better benefits? 'Cause I really thought I
was a taxpayer for all those years, since Uncle took out his more-than-fair share of my weekly paycheck. Maybe I should've refused the pay raises and benefits when they were given to me......or maybe I should go beat-up Uncle Sam and get back that money he stole from me each payday 'cause maybe I really
wasn't a taxpayer after all!
.....the government employment is a more lucrative deal.......
All kidding aside, I am just stating that it is a good deal working for the govt vs private sector. Count your blessing guys/gals.
Again, I think it's mostly a matter of perspective.....'the grass is greener' deal. Because I always thought you guys in the private sector were gods!
.....I do get tired of people telling me how 'Lucky' I am to have a military pension. Most them had the same chance to serve as I did and chose not to.
Most are still working!
Exactly!
NOT luck! It was/is a thing called "CHOICE".....everybody has it! Six other [-]co-conspirators[/-] co-workers ER'd at the same time I did from our gubmint jobs.
VERY few of our peers who work in the private sector have been able to ER. We made our choices...they made their choices......pretty simple.
Your post is a bit of a oxymoron. You're tired of being told you're lucky to have a govt pension yet boast about being RE while the private sector folks are still working......
You are "lucky" or "fortunate" or "things worked out well" or whatever word you wanted to use. I understand that you don't want to hear about it, and I don't blame you for that, but you have a situation most folks would aspire to.
Again, not 'luck'....but 'choice'. "Fortunate"? Absolutely! But not 'lucky'. Luck has to do with
chance......while fortunate has much more to do with
choice.
I applied for a job a large international industry that (at the time) paid
MUCH better than public jobs did, and had
FAR better benefits than public jobs did, and our local facility employed ~1000 people. Since then, their wages have stagnated, benefits have been gutted to near nothing, and they currently employ (as of a year ago) 182 people.
And, yeah, we may be proud of the fact that we were able to ER, while our private sector peers are still running in the hamster cage......but they're probably still better off than us though! I mean, hey, they can still contribute to their IRA's, 401K's, SS, Medicare, etc., but us poor ol' public retirees can't do those things anymore. We have to scrape by on our measly COLA'd DB pensions, and our other investments.