Submitted by TheChronicler011235 t3_11b2w85 in boston
How does the BPS teachers’ pension compare to the federal pension (FERS)? I’ve read multiple articles about how poor Ma pensions are when compared to other states, but haven’t seen anything comparing state vs federal
But remember the formula requires you to max out years of service + age to equal somewhere around 90-100 and its 80% of your 3 best years
FERS isn't great. It's 1% of your high 3 years multiplied by the number of years of service. If you exceed 20 years it's 1.1%.
If you do 40-50 years, it's nice since you still collect social security and you likely have TSP but the number of people I've seen get that far is really low.
New federal employees also have to contribute 4.4% if I remember correctly. It’s important to factor that in. It was a much better deal for the older employees who only have to contribute like 1%.
FERS can be great if you have military service + TSP.
You can finish with 15-20 years of serviceand move onto something else. I will be in my early mid 40s. Go private 10 years. Then, go back to federal, likely jump to a grade 14/15. work at least 5 years, get the high 3 and forever health care. At the age of 62, you can live well. The pension has COLA. I don’t know anything about MA pension.
Lot of folks in the federal system are veterans. They also have military pension and VA disability. They pocket easily over 5k a month at the age of 37. If they are in federal system, they are working for their 2nd/ 3rd pension.
The net cash to a teacher at full retirement is approximately the same as their full salary. A 100K salary will have approximately 11K withheld for retirement. 90K taxed federally and 100K taxed by MA (5K) so you net 84K before federal tax. In retirement you get 80K pension. No withholding for pension, not subject to state tax. Also no longer paying into the teachers Union dues. That final difference of about 3K is mostly made up by only paying federal tax on 80K instead of 90K.
Mass teachers still get a pension? They took away our pensions in Indiana which is why i quit teaching
Teachers get a really good deal in Massachusetts, especially in Boston. They will never admit it but the salaries are much higher than national average and you get an unbelievable benefits package.
Depends upon your definition of a “good deal.” Are you including all aspects of teachers’ working conditions? I’ve never seen any teacher claim that Massachusetts teacher salaries aren’t above national average?
The issue is that, due to HCOL, many towns and cities still don’t pay enough for teachers to live in the communities in which they teach.
If it was such a good deal, you’d think that you’d see tons of people signing up for this job, but in fact, 50% quit within 5 years. I can only imagine what is the actual percentage of teachers who make it the complete length of service to receive a full pension.
The salaries have to be higher because the cost of living/housing is higher in the Greater Boston area than the vast majority of the country.
I’ve never really thought that my tax dollars should fund any public pensions. Private industry began phasing out pensions in the mid 80’s and went to 401k.
One of the few perks to get talented people to work in govt. Scientists and engineers and doctors working at FDA, EPA, DOE, etc could all be making a lot more money in private industry.
I know, but it pisses me off that I worked for 44 years with no pension while my tax dollars were underwriting someone else’s.
Why does something someone else has piss you off? Are you unhappy with your own life and situation?
Im not here to argue with you. Rage-bait is a hell of a drug!
And even the creator of the 401k regrets what it did to the system.
Why shouldn't the public fund pensions?
AndreaTwerk t1_j9vrz8g wrote
You get 80% of your final salary upon retirement with Mass Teacher Retirement System. BPS salaries currently top out ~$100k depending on education level. Don’t know anything about federal pensions.