Posted on 01/31/2009 3:18:19 PM PST by jimbo123
Don't let anyone tell you the American dream has faded. the truth is the U.S. is still minting lots of millionaires. Glenn Goss is one of them.
Goss retired four years ago, at 42, from a $90,000 job as a police commander in Delray Beach, Fla. He immediately began drawing a $65,000 annual pension that is guaranteed for life, is indexed to keep up with inflation and comes with full health benefits.
Goss promptly took a new job as police chief in nearby Highland Beach. One big lure: the benefits.
Given that the average man his age will live to 78, Goss is already worth nearly $2 million, based on the present value of his vested retirement benefits. Looked at another way, he is a $2 million liability to Florida taxpayers.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Change the system if we don't like it. Yet it's only going to get worse with liberals in charge.
And, don’t forget, depending on the State, Mr. Goss probably paid into the system as well.
Looked at another way, he is a $2 million liability to Florida taxpayers.
Wow! How disgusting this piece of crap is. I wonder how much he would care if he was being mugged or his house robbed or was murdered when this cop would be his only chance at finding out who did it or even better stopped the perp who was doing it before it went to far. Jealous that perhaps he could not do the job perhaps????
"Change the system if we don't like it. Yet it's only going to get worse with liberals in charge."
Can Goss and your uncle vote?
Yeah, I'm sure they want to change the system.
Truth in adverting: I am retired Air Force and you can say I have a similar deal, though not quite as generous as Goss. I got a pension after 20 years of service. I have noticed that, lately, there are a number of articles like this where people are starting to question to fairness of these pensions. This one strikes me as especially hateful, referring to Goss (a retired police commander) as a $2M liability.
A couple of things:
1. Many of the jobs that offer these pensions are those that are dangerous and hard(military, police, fire, etc) that no one wants to do—especially when they are 20 or so years old (when they have their whole life ahead of them).
2. Rules are rules and promises are promises. Part of the incentive to stick with these jobs, as opposed to getting out after a few years, is the pension. I know that my family could have done without moving every 3 years and missing me when I was TDY/deployed.
3. Now that we are in our late 40s, I have had a number of college friends rib me about the pension. They say things like: “well, if I only knew what a great deal you had, I would have....yada yada yada”. Well, ya know what? They did know (’cause I tried to recruit them at the time) and they passed. Now that they are older, apparently, they have changed their minds. Too bad.
4. Was Goss (and those like him) a “$2M liability” when they were answering those dangerous calls in their younger days? Probably not. But of course, he is now.
I really get the feeling those of us who took the risk and played by the rules will now get shafted—now that our peers are envious of the “great deals” we have. You take away the pension incentive, and these jobs will be a lot less attractive then they already are. But, hey, the average citizen can tote a gun and defend themselves, right?
As a for-life, indexed annual payment from the age of 42? You’ve got to be kidding.
He couldn’t have been working for more than 20 years tops, and now he gets paid 40 to 50 years for nothing? All of these government systems, down to the municipal level have got way out of whack in compensation, and instead of learning to deal with it in the downturn—they’re getting bailed out by Obama with our futures!
More:
Four in five public-sector workers have lifetime pensions, versus only one in five in the private sector. The difference shifts huge risks from government to private-sector workers.
NYC socked away $20,000 per employee last year for pension benefits. Since 2000 its pension funding bill has risen ninefold, from $615 million to $5.6 billion in 2008. That’s more than the city spends on transport, health care, parks, libraries, museums and City University of New York combined, says the Citizens Budget Commission.
My current boss is ex-Army (transportation). She regrets to this day that she did not put in her 20 years. I sure would have.
That is true. I think cities and towns are not able to fund them though. There seems like no such thing as a sure thing retirement anymore.
Blah. Blah. Blah.
Sure, cops are great, but a $2,000,000 retirement at the age of 42?
You have to be kidding! How can you defend that?
He worked 20 years and you think he deserves an extra $100,000/year for those years -- with adjustments for inflation?
Cmon. They're exploiting the very people they're supposed to serve.
You served in the military—thank you!—which is an entirely different thing. But cops and firemen are seldom toward the tops in workplace risk—you’d have to look at loggers, fishermen, ranchers, farmers, even pizza deliverymen for that—they typically have long lines of prospective employees lined up lusting for such careers, they don’t require a high level of intelligence or education, and they are very much protected throughout by the unions.
Still, all of these positions would be better structured with higher levels of pay and defined contribution pensions, so neither governments nor private employers can be sunk by pushing their obligations down the road.
Hopefully, Mr. Goss has his mortgage paid off or will shortly. I hope he planned it that way.
My other post didn’t show up for some reason. These benefits are negotiated with a lot of give and take over the years. I know that most of my 25 years the raises were 1-2% below what everyone else was getting. I contributed 8% into my pension. It is difficult to use current events as the barometer for what we see as a high pension but most if not all of these benefits were negotiated years ago.
EXACTLY. Thanks for the information.
Bullcrap. The military has done studies that show that soldiers would be content with taking 20% of their future expected pay added to their current pay without affecting recruitment.
But, hey, the average citizen can tote a gun and defend themselves, right?
Just who do you think you are? The lord of the manor protecting your subjects?
Listen. I appreciate the fighting man. But we're part of a team. You don't get to use us.
Get real you people.
There are quickly forming two classes of people in the United States. Government workers who are paid richly, get almost, free medical care for life, pensions at near full salary, lavish automatic cost-of-living increases, and protection from layoffs. And most of them really don’t work hard and depend on non-government contractors to do the real work of their agencies.
The rest of the workers work hard, get low pay when they aren’t displaced by illegal aliens, not much medical insurance, no cost of living increases, increasingly no pensions, and get laid off.
And through their taxes pay for all the government drones who live like kings. Do you know of any federal government workers affected by this economic crisis?
It can’t go on much longer. A revolt is coming.
Except that
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