Government Worker Pensions - $998K per year for one person?

[boedicca]

For anyone who thinks the solution to our economic woes is to Raise Tax on the Richie Riches so that we can increase government spending, I offer a counter point:

The 31,754 page list of public service pensioners in California (and not all entities comply with reporting requirements).

The first guy on the list is a retired Assistant Chief for the LAFD, who pulled in $998,456.61 last year.

All pensions | Transparent California

And then there's the tsunami of future retiree liabilities for which the state is not even building up reserves.

Gov. Jerry Brown's image as a responsible, penny-pinching steward of California's finances has been cemented in recent weeks because of his renewed call to pay off California's "wall of debt.

That's a term Brown coined when he took office to describe the tens of billions of dollars California owed to public schools and special funds whose coffers were raided to help balance budgets in the past.

But look behind that $24.9 billion wall and you'll see a $330 billion skyline of other liabilities threatening the state's financial health. It includes $80 billion needed to cover teachers' pensions and $64 billion to pay for state workers' health care in retirement -- two particularly troublesome liabilities because the state isn't even making the minimum payments on them.

As a result -- similar to the debt of a homeowner who fails to make regular mortgage payments -- California's liabilities keep growing. For example, the money needed to fully fund the California State Teachers' Retirement System balloons by $22 million a day, or about $8 billion a year, financial analysts estimate....

California's 'wall of debt' is only a slice of its liability problem - San Jose Mercury News

 

[boedicca]

 

[pismoe]

aww , pretty funny . I know a retired cop , he retired after 20 years and that's all the details i know but he is doing good as he builds dragracers and runs a mechanics shop as a pretty young man .

 

[occupied]

Old people suck what with all their stubborn refusal to die the day after retirement and their selfish demand that contracts be honored.

 

[KissMy]

Bush & the Republicans exploded pay & benefits for government employees far above private sector workers. It is just sick how government force US to be their slaves like that.

 

[boedicca]

If you think this is a partisan issue, you are sorely mistaken.

This is a limited government vs. Government Is Our Savior/Caretaker issue.

 

[KissMy]

Old people suck what with all their stubborn refusal to die the day after retirement and their selfish demand that contracts be honored.

Business does not honor outrageous contracts like that, they dispose of those obligations all the time. Tax payers should be forced at gunpoint to pay these ex-employees more than they were paid to go to work.

 

[boedicca]

Old people suck what with all their stubborn refusal to die the day after retirement and their selfish demand that contracts be honored.

Business does not honor outrageous contracts like that, they dispose of those obligations all the time. Tax payers should be forced at gunpoint to pay these ex-employees more than they were paid to go to work.

Most business have moved to a 401K (defined contribution) type of plan. The accounts are owned by the employee.

Public employees, on the other hand, have many ways to game the system and pad pensions. What does that say about them and their organizational culture?

 

[KissMy]

Old people suck what with all their stubborn refusal to die the day after retirement and their selfish demand that contracts be honored.

Business does not honor outrageous contracts like that, they dispose of those obligations all the time. Tax payers should be forced at gunpoint to pay these ex-employees more than they were paid to go to work.

Most business have moved to a 401K (defined contribution) type of plan. The accounts are owned by the employee.

Public employees, on the other hand, have many ways to game the system and pad pensions. What does that say about them and their organizational culture?

Defined benefit tax payer obligations for government employees should be outlawed other than Social Security safety net. Defined contribution works for the private sector & is the only thing that will save this country from government union pensions.

 

[occupied]

Old people suck what with all their stubborn refusal to die the day after retirement and their selfish demand that contracts be honored.

Business does not honor outrageous contracts like that, they dispose of those obligations all the time. Tax payers should be forced at gunpoint to pay these ex-employees more than they were paid to go to work.

Maybe people with outrageous mortgages should just refuse to pay because it's too much?
Funny how a contract was a contract when the mortgage industry imploded but in this case a contract is just a bunch of horrible economic blackmail that should be wiggled out of. Funny how working people were on the losing end of those contradictory conservative views.

 

[boedicca]

Business does not honor outrageous contracts like that, they dispose of those obligations all the time. Tax payers should be forced at gunpoint to pay these ex-employees more than they were paid to go to work.

Most business have moved to a 401K (defined contribution) type of plan. The accounts are owned by the employee.

Public employees, on the other hand, have many ways to game the system and pad pensions. What does that say about them and their organizational culture?

Defined benefit tax payer obligations for government employees should be outlawed other than Social Security safety net. Defined contribution works for the private sector & is the only thing that will save this country from government union pensions.

I'd prefer that we all just have privatized retirement accounts such as Chileans have.

Nobody can raid them nor stuff them with lockbox IOUs.

 

[boedicca]

Old people suck what with all their stubborn refusal to die the day after retirement and their selfish demand that contracts be honored.

Business does not honor outrageous contracts like that, they dispose of those obligations all the time. Tax payers should be forced at gunpoint to pay these ex-employees more than they were paid to go to work.

Maybe people with outrageous mortgages should just refuse to pay because it's too much?
Funny how a contract was a contract when the mortgage industry imploded but in this case a contract is just a bunch of horrible economic blackmail that should be wiggled out of. Funny how working people were on the losing end of those contradictory conservative views.

Do you really think that any Assistant Fire Chief should be paid close to $1m per year in retirement benefits at the expense of workers who make $50K per year in the private sector?

Really?

 

[KissMy]

Old people suck what with all their stubborn refusal to die the day after retirement and their selfish demand that contracts be honored.

Business does not honor outrageous contracts like that, they dispose of those obligations all the time. Tax payers should be forced at gunpoint to pay these ex-employees more than they were paid to go to work.

Maybe people with outrageous mortgages should just refuse to pay because it's too much?
Funny how a contract was a contract when the mortgage industry imploded but in this case a contract is just a bunch of horrible economic blackmail that should be wiggled out of. Funny how working people were on the losing end of those contradictory conservative views.

Taxpayers did not negotiate with government employees. They should not be on the hook for crackpot politicians & union leaders underhanded agreements to hide debts off the books. Tax payers paid for their services once & should not have to keep paying. Tax payers should never be obligated to pay more than 66% of the average pay the retired government workers took to actually do their job & that should only come after disability or retirement age of 65. None of this 20 year retirement extortion crap.

As far as mortgage companies & wallstreet, Obama should have clawed back all their ill-gotten wealth made from creating the mortgage disaster.

 

[g5000]

Wall Street promised pension fund managers record ROI. They lied.

But based on those pie-in-the-sky promises, politicians of every stripe got the public employee vote by promising bigger and better pension plans. Smaller contributions, bigger payouts.

Now ROI is way below the historical average and the proverbial mathematical chickens are coming home to roost. Say hello to higher taxes. Just another gift from Wall Street to you.

 

[occupied]

Business does not honor outrageous contracts like that, they dispose of those obligations all the time. Tax payers should be forced at gunpoint to pay these ex-employees more than they were paid to go to work.

Maybe people with outrageous mortgages should just refuse to pay because it's too much?
Funny how a contract was a contract when the mortgage industry imploded but in this case a contract is just a bunch of horrible economic blackmail that should be wiggled out of. Funny how working people were on the losing end of those contradictory conservative views.

Do you really think that any Assistant Fire Chief should be paid close to $1m per year in retirement benefits at the expense of workers who make $50K per year in the private sector?

Really?

Seems excessive. If his benefits were the only issue here I would wonder at why anyone would sign such a deal and bring up the possibility of corruption. Using his atypical example to demonize the entire system is disingenuous as most pensioners have a relatively meager pension and depend on it for survival.

 

[boedicca]

Wall Street promised pension fund managers record ROI. They lied.

But based on those pie-in-the-sky promises, politicians of every stripe got the public employee vote by promising bigger and better pension plans. Smaller contributions, bigger payouts.

Now ROI is way below the historical average and the proverbial mathematical chickens are coming home to roost. Say hello to higher taxes. Just another gift from Wall Street to you.

Please go away and fellate Putin. We know that's where your head is at.

 

[boedicca]

Maybe people with outrageous mortgages should just refuse to pay because it's too much?
Funny how a contract was a contract when the mortgage industry imploded but in this case a contract is just a bunch of horrible economic blackmail that should be wiggled out of. Funny how working people were on the losing end of those contradictory conservative views.

Do you really think that any Assistant Fire Chief should be paid close to $1m per year in retirement benefits at the expense of workers who make $50K per year in the private sector?

Really?

Seems excessive. If his benefits were the only issue here I would wonder at why anyone would sign such a deal and bring up the possibility of corruption. Using his atypical example to demonize the entire system is disingenuous as most pensioners have a relatively meager pension and depend on it for survival.

It's the nature of the system. It is full of loopholes allowed by politicians who buy votes...and exploited by public employees with severe entitlement attitudes.

 

[occupied]

Do you really think that any Assistant Fire Chief should be paid close to $1m per year in retirement benefits at the expense of workers who make $50K per year in the private sector?

Really?

Seems excessive. If his benefits were the only issue here I would wonder at why anyone would sign such a deal and bring up the possibility of corruption. Using his atypical example to demonize the entire system is disingenuous as most pensioners have a relatively meager pension and depend on it for survival.

It's the nature of the system. It is full of loopholes allowed by politicians who buy votes...and exploited by public employees with severe entitlement attitudes.

Nice, when it's working people they have severe entitlement attitudes but when it is some CEO exiting a company they ran into the ground with a compensation package that looks like a lottery jackpot it's just fine. That shit cost the economy far more than any pension plan ever could but trying to claw back that grandest of thefts is met with protests of ironclad contracts and lawyers.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Occupied still can not distinguish between private and public sectors and how each one acquires its revenue. That's why he continues to push these appeal to emotion nonsensical arguments.

 

[boedicca]

Seems excessive. If his benefits were the only issue here I would wonder at why anyone would sign such a deal and bring up the possibility of corruption. Using his atypical example to demonize the entire system is disingenuous as most pensioners have a relatively meager pension and depend on it for survival.

It's the nature of the system. It is full of loopholes allowed by politicians who buy votes...and exploited by public employees with severe entitlement attitudes.

Nice, when it's working people they have severe entitlement attitudes but when it is some CEO exiting a company they ran into the ground with a compensation package that looks like a lottery jackpot it's just fine. That shit cost the economy far more than any pension plan ever could but trying to claw back that grandest of thefts is met with protests of ironclad contracts and lawyers.

That is complete and utter nonsense.

The compensation of public company CEOs is largely via stock options.

The $Ts of unfunded public employee pension benefits dwarf such compensation...and come out of the pocket book of workers who earn far less.