I live in a neighborhood with two firefighters who were captains, retired at 50, and make over $100K a year. It's totally unsustainable.
What about the pensions of workers (many unionized) which were obliterated by corporate restructurings during the financial crisis?
EDIT: The often worked much more hours.
To buy an annuity at age 55 worth $100k / year with guaranteed health, dental, long term care, etc. for an employee who's estimated to live another 30 years would cost a few million dollars. A quick Google search shows that the media 401k balance at 55 - 65 in the US is under $75k. The amount of non-guaranteed dividends, cap gains, and withdrawals made to ensure it lasts 30 years would probably not even cover the cost of Obamacare from 55 to 65 when they're eligible for Medicare.
The deal that was struck was between the government workers and the voters at that time. That deal, more or less, said that future tax payers would pay for their pension. As a group, those then future and now present tax payers don't have much of a moral obligation to follow a deal that they never agreed to. And the workers don't get to act indignant that their pensions are in question. Their unions negotiated the agreement and chose to let the buck be passed instead of insisting on pensions being fully funded.
The bargain was, at least in part, corrupt. The various public unions would campaign for and help elect those that would give them more money. An obvious conflict of interest that raises questions on why a shady deal should be upheld.
The pensioners are, in general, gaming the system. They artificially inflate earnings at the end of their career to pump up their pension. Nepotism is rampant and there are plenty of positions with absurd salaries for what they do. They've sold out new entrants in their field to protect their own pensions. In general they're a bag of dicks. Fuck them.
I've heard this claim many times before. Is there data supporting this or did a handful of people do it and word spreads like it is far more common that actual.
Pension spiking could cost CalPERS nearly $800 million
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pension-spiking-repor...
Look at the average retiree's 401(k) balance for comparison and it gets pretty clear how unfair this is. There's a huge political opportunity for someone to tell this story properly and get a restructuring done.