Retirement Pensions vs. Permament Income
This info is making the rounds in the eGroup with a reference to Bill Daggett, "a well noted educational reformist". He illustrates more reasons to consider something like the UnFranchise for a permanent retirement income over depending on pensions & social security alone...
An accelerating pension gap is dividing the millions of baby boomers heading toward retirement into those who have worked for government and those who have worked for private companies. The difference? Higher paying pensions and other benefits typically come from working in government.
- Retired government workers are twice as likely to receive a pension as their counterparts in the private sector, and the typical benefit is more generous because governments pump far more money into employee pensions than companies do.
- The nation's six million retired civil servants, who include teachers, police, administrators, and laborers, received a median benefit of $17,640 in 2004, according to the Congressional Research Service.
- In comparison, 11 million private-sector retirees covered by traditional pensions received $7,692.
- Civil servants earn an average of $12.38 an hour in benefits, about $5 an hour more than private-sector workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The difference was just $2.70 an hour in 1995.
- Only 18% of private workers now have traditional defined benefit pension plans, compared with more than 80% of government employees.
- A typical full-time state or local government worker earned $78,853 in wages and benefits in 2006, $25,771 more than a typical private-sector employee, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The difference was $7,604 in 2000. These numbers hold true for all types of workers, including teachers, laborers, and managers.
- The boost in government benefits since the 1960s reflects the rising power of public employee unions at the same time that there has been an erosion of industrial labor unions.
Although the higher benefits allow retirees to have a better quality of life, there could be serious consequences for taxpayers and pensioners, according to a recent USA Today article, "Pension Tension." The U.S. government's unfunded retirement obligation grew $200 billion last year to $4.7 trillion. Several states also have troubled retirement systems that may require huge tax increases, spending cuts, or defaulting on promised benefits.
Source:
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-20-pensions-cover_x.htm
Source:
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-20-pensions-cover_x.htm
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