^I checked
you don't qualify for the monthly pension payments in Pennsylvania until 65, OR at 57 if you worked for at least 35 years. If someone sticks it out in a teaching job for 35 years, I don't mind paying them 80% of their salary for the last 15 years of their life
ditto for the 65 year-old set to die in 7 years.
Soulfire- that may be the way it is now ( I bet it much depends what school district) - but is wasn't that way just a few years ago pre - 2017. Otherwise we would not be having the budget issues we have in our school district . If you look at the spending of a school district and break it down you will find less and less % that being spend on "instructional spending"= teachers, and more and more spent elsewhere= admin, and funding retirement accounts, etc. Hence my issue - again - not with what current teachers are being paid - but with the admin costs and the funding retirement accounts. I know several retired teachers in their late 50's and early 60's that have better insurance thru their pensions that anybody can currently buy - guaranteed thru age 65 when medicare kicks in. They do not get social security yet as they are not yet 65 years old and live off their pension monthly check, their own retirement fund, etc. They also got matching funds deposited into their retirement fund (tax free) most of their career. Wouldn't that be nice ? So a teacher puts in $$$ per month and watches the fund grow by interest or market change ( guaranteed) , as well as the matching money from the tax payer each month - unlike a profit sharing fund like an employee of a business when you may or may not get some matching $$ at times - depending on if the business was making money or not. Theirs was guaranteed - unlike everybody else's. Not to mention they never earned or paid tax on the extra state matching contributions. I wish I had that option as a small business owner. Nope, I get to pay 14% SS tax, full corporate taxes, as well as state/township and local personal income taxes. I am allowed to put in about 7 % of my gross income into my simple plan - that $$ plays the market and has no guarantee of growth what so ever and I pay some one to manage it so even if the market stays with no loss- I loss after paying my fees - because it is not managed by a state employee that the teachers retirement fund does NOT pay directly. That is why this "bubble" exists- they were guaranteed a certain % growth - so when the market fell during the last 10 years or so - school districts had to pay more into the fund than what was contributed by the teacher and the matching contribution did originally or the fund would go broke. Their old insurance plans are indemnity plans that superseded Obamacare - so are great policies and are no longer available - and they pay very little per month. My numbers are correct -unless the CPA for the school board is lying to me about the total % of the budget stuff. BY the way - I have put in 29 years so far into my business - working a hell of a lot more hours than a teachers does per year. - do you have a problem with the tax payers paying me 80% of my income when I retire in a few more years with the same full benefits that continue when I retire? Ya , I know --Laughable. Hell, I would be happy if I got double the normal social security check that I am calculated to receive - since i paid in double the percentage or double the max amount compared to people that are not self employed?
like I said - they could not pay me enough to be a teacher- I do not have the temperament required. However, I doubt teachers can do what I do either. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I am glad it has changed- based on info you provided Soulfire. So that we aren't putting the burden of those policies on the next generation of home owners via their property taxes. However, their growth % is still guaranteed (unlike normal 401K retirement accounts) . So, the bubble could continue if the fund managers do a bad job.
