A friend of mine was a senior city planner here in SD. Great guy. Put in his 30 years for the city. Now has an $82K annual pension (with COLA adjustments!) for the rest of his life – he’s in his early-60s now. So now he has a second job – kind of a low-stress fun job – making about $60K. The house is paid off and life is good.
And, again, great guy. But I take every opportunity to tell him that he’s part of the problem, although it’s not his fault. And he acknowledges it and replies, “Hey, I didn’t make the rules. I’m just following them.” Which is true.
Politics and pensions. A very bad combination for the taxpayers.