Pensions for teachers… at least teachers in San Diego Unified, aren’t quite as sweet as you suggest. My sister would retire in a heartbeat if she could collect 50K/year. (She’s over 50 with 20 years of service as a teacher – this was her second career).
* there’s no pension for teachers under 55 with less than 30 years with San Diego unified under the CalSTRS pension program. And even at 55 you’d be hard pressed to get $50k unless you made a lot more than teachers max salaries. The max pension under the CalPers pension at age 50 is 36% of the annual wages… and you’d have had to start teaching at age 17. Again – hard to get to $50k.
* the pension is based on years of service and age. If both are lower, so is the pension. Your scenario of retiring with 50k after being a teacher (vs administrator or other higher paid position) is pretty unlikely, if not impossible.
* most teachers DO contribute to a 403b or 457b plan… This is pretty much the equivalent of the 401k.
I wish some of the old guard of teachers *would* retire… a few specific teachers come to mind who are “past their prime” but still teaching because they can’t afford to quit.
