Quote:
Originally Posted by dsafety
Recently I had a conversation with one of my former colleagues who had just retired from the Lifeguard Service with an 80% pension for life. When I asked him if he felt comfortable about this extraordinary retirement benefit, his response was that he often had to put his life on the line and that the benefit was appropriate. He was probably talking about having to save dumb ass guys like the one in Gabe's video.
I am all for rewarding hard working folks who put their lives on the line for the rest of us, but getting 80% if your highest salary for the rest of your life just because you managed to make it to retirement without burning out or getting fired seems a bit generous to me. There must be a better way.
Oops! I went political again. Sorry.
Bob
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Although I'm sure there are some retirement programs where 80% might be excessive, there are many that are not. You can't really make a blanket statement for all public employees. The details vary considerably. How much did the employee donate each year to his retirement (10, 15, 20%)? Will he be able to collect the full social security he has earned (CalSTRS/CalPERS does not)? How many years was he employed (35, 40, 45 years)? Will he receive benefits during retirement (no in most)? What kind of risk, training, education are involved? How did his work load/salary compare to the private sector? Etcetra, etcetra. There might even be some that earned and deserve more than 80% ?
Wayne