Quote:
Originally Posted by HomeWood
This is what I will be looking into when I retire around 49 years old after about 28 years of law enforcement. Only about 16 years to go! A seasonal summer gig like this would be perfect when we move back up. This is my stay on topic point.
Now, us lowly civil servants know we won't become mega millionaires with our public sector jobs, but there is a trade off for a young age retirement and life long pensions. I contribute to my pension with my own pay into the state system. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but our pension system is tied into the stock market and there is billions in there. I'm not sure how much if any tax dollars are contributed to it, but from what I understand it is largely a self sustaining system. I do know that if the market takes a big enough hit, pensions could be in trouble. There was talk of this within the last several years.
Then there is the city supplement retirement check that is separate from the state pension check. That supplement ends when I start to collect social security. I guess the city may use tax dollars for that supplement program.
I also have a city 401k that I contribute to and I have a Roth IRA. I'm thinking beyond just the pension.
This is the deal I signed up for and I expect it to be fulfilled. It's not about having an entitlement mentality. Welfare moochers have an entitlement mentality. It's about receiving the pay and benefits I was promised for my years of service. I will have earned it and I won't feel guilty for receiving it.
I'm in a right to work state too, so the union debate to us here is a moot point. NC state law prohibits public sector employees from collective bargaining.
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Looks like your the best house in a bad neighborhood according to the below excerpt from a September 2012 article I just found on the web:
"The percentage of unfunded liability varies from state to state. North Carolina has the lowest at 37.1 percent (if having a third of your pension debt unfunded can truly be called low). Illinois has the highest at 71.8 percent. Something else to keep in mind when thinking about all those raises the teachers in Chicago just received."
Everyone out there should be focused on these unfunded state pensions because ultimately, the US government will be asked to bail out the state systems since these pensions are insolvent. The problem is the US government is insolvent, too.
While I agree that it is difficult not to receive a pension that was promised that is exactly the way it works in the private sector. Case in point: I was working for a triple A rated, large multinational several years back. In june it announced its pension would be terminated in December! That was it. End of story. I didn't whine but I did leave and join another organization for a better deal to help me make up the shortfall. That is the way it works in the real world.