The Millionaire Cop Next Door

compare to your 401k contribution:

http://paloaltofreepress.com/palo-alto-city-employees-to-rea...

"The city’s pension contribution for police managers will be $59,903 on average, according to the proposed budget. Police officers pensions are the next most expensive, costing $42,688 each, followed by firefighters pensions at an annual average cost of $42,289, and fire chiefs pensions at $41,828."

This 40K+/year contribution is what allows to pay those 200K+/year pensions.

I think it's great that police officers, teachers and gov't employees with seniority make six figures with pension in some of the better unionized municipalities.

Their work provide a valuable and concrete service to the community. I think startup enthusiasts on the other hand are kind of like starting a band, providing entertainment/art for an audience and for the performer to satisfy an itch. Life is a finite thing which makes our chosen paths speak for our individual/subjective values. We shouldn't be green about other people's financial or personal success, but should of focus on ourselves and embrace the rewards and consequences our choices make.

I think that's what makes a Computer Programmer so exciting. You can either choose to work for a startup and be a rock star or you can choose to work to work at a regular company or gov't with good life balance and benefits; and/or save your money and good planning to retire at mid-50's.

I must admit, sometimes it does feel like I didn't have the choice and have been dealt with a bad hand. But I think how lucky I'm to be in US where I can eat really delicious taco's, watch free TV shows/movies and chillax with peeps and other things I enjoy without being rich.

Ofc, there's a lot of social pressure to earn more for your family and for yourself, but I think relationships in general should focus on empowering the other person than imposing with money, expectations or guilt. And being upset with what other peeps make is just my own projections of my own insecurities.

Should you get paid near $80k a year for the next 26 years when you are not working?

I also think it should be adjustable depending where you are living. Do you live in the area and so plowing some of that money back in to the local economy? If not there should be a reduction.

England is reducing some benefits for those who live abroad and thus not spending money in the country.

The real question is can we afford it. Public pensions are not fully funded while the employee is working. In many cases there won't be enough people paying their benefits in the future so taxes will need to be increased or benefits cut.

Having been raised in a single parent home with a government employed mother, I know first hand that it is extremely difficult to raise a family on a government salary. Like another commenter said, these plans also are paid for from the government paycheck in part by the workers, reducing their current salary. Often, these government workers are also raising families and putting their kids through school. Without such a pension plan, this would not be possible and many (especially single parent) families of government working households would be stuck to a threshold close to the poverty line. The reality is that just because over the course of 30-some-odd years of hard work they accumulate enough pension to live a middle-class life style, does not make them millionaires, especially when you take into account healthcare deductions, the cost of living, their childrens' education, and any mortgage/car payments. The least we can do is support the people that protect, educate, and serve our communities. It is not necessary to bring light to their supposedly vast troves of wealth (sarcasm) when there are plenty of millionaires and billionaires who acquire their wealth through questionable means.

(Also I don't approve of the fact that comments on the article itself are disabled, sidenote.)