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Highest of any three consecutive years, with percentage limitations as determined by tier status. (All tiers have different earnings caps -- ranging from 10% to 20%.)
Not sure I understand the 20% cap, is 20% of your last year salary being put in as your third year when calculating?
The 20% cap means that the highest year of the three can't exceed the average of the other two years by more than 20%. There are other restrictions, too, depending on which tier you're in.
What I don't understand is all of the lynchmobbing. If the tables were turned, do you honestly think half of the people here wouldn't try to retire with the biggest pension possible?
In favor of transparency, civil servants salary information is available for the public to review.
You can review the link above to see the payroll for many divisions of public service, ranging from Police, Fire Department, LIRR, Schoolteacher.
If only we had information on the pensions these servants receive. A police officer can receive 50% pension after 20 years. I believe the % is based on the last year worked before retirement. The availability to abuse the Over Time system and drive up the last year salary is available and could be abused by most precincts.
It's possible for an officer to record $175,000+ in wages his 20th year and retire at $85,000/year. I agree that police officers need to be paid well and staying on the job 20 years means something and deserving of a salary above the medium standard of living, yet being able to drive up the % received in pension seems flawed.
Any opinions? Any input on other civil servants such as teachers, LIRR, fire department pay and pension packages?
WholeName PositionName AgencyName SubAgencyName YTDPay BenefitRate PayYear BranchName OvertimePay Rate PayBasis TotalCompensation RowOrder RetirementDate Moderator cut: names removed they can look it up if they really want to know
Regarding teachers and their pensions, I'm quoting the sister of the Superintendent of Babylon Schools - the teachers' pensions are based only on the last three years they work. During that time the teachers take on more extras (such as clubs, etc.) in order to increase their paychecks. It's no wonder they retire with such a hefty pension.
In NYC, most of the higher paying extras (after school tutoring jobs) are not paid through NYC and do not go towards our pension. These programs are funded through the federal govt and are run by outside companies (Princeton Review for one). There is very little money for clubs and sports teams. I can't speak for other teachers (Long Island, Westchester), but NYC teachers can't really pad their pensions like other city workers can.
It often happens that the police officers earning overtime are those who are the most active, particularly those who make a lot of arrests. Arrest processing and court time are factors which may increase overtime. But, again, these are the folks who are taking the DWIs and other bad guys off the street. It's a trade off.
The 20% cap means that the highest year of the three can't exceed the average of the other two years by more than 20%. There are other restrictions, too, depending on which tier you're in.
Isn't this kind of the same thing the OP said, though? Wouldn't any person in their right mind who is three years away from retirement look back over their earnings history and find a way to squeeze in as much O/T as possible before they hang it up, if they hadn't maxed out in three consecutive years already? Plus, if I'm understanding what you're saying (please, correct me if I'm wrong) the 20% cap is only applied to the highest grossing of the three years as compared to an average of the other two? In other words, if someone earned an average of $100,000 over the lower 2/3 years, the highest year would max out at $120,000? I realize $100k is less than yearly base pay for NCPD/SCPD - just picked a nice round number for the example.
Like I said, I may be misunderstanding completely, but let me know if this scenario is accurate or not: someone could theoretically earn ~$140k/yr over 7/10 years leading up to their retirement, earn an average of $200k/yr over the next 2 and $240k over the last and their pension would primarily be calculated off of a ~$213k yearly salary - despite never earning anything close to that prior to their last 3 years of employment?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kayfouroh
What I don't understand is all of the lynchmobbing. If the tables were turned, do you honestly think half of the people here wouldn't try to retire with the biggest pension possible?
Grass is always greener, I guess.
If the tables were turned, I'd be doing the same exact thing! I can't blame anyone for trying to make as much money as humanly possible....you know what they say, "don't hate the playa, hate the game"
Isn't this kind of the same thing the OP said, though? Wouldn't any person in their right mind who is three years away from retirement look back over their earnings history and find a way to squeeze in as much O/T as possible before they hang it up, if they hadn't maxed out in three consecutive years already? Plus, if I'm understanding what you're saying (please, correct me if I'm wrong) the 20% cap is only applied to the highest grossing of the three years as compared to an average of the other two? In other words, if someone earned an average of $100,000 over the lower 2/3 years, the highest year would max out at $120,000? I realize $100k is less than yearly base pay for NCPD/SCPD - just picked a nice round number for the example.
Like I said, I may be misunderstanding completely, but let me know if this scenario is accurate or not: someone could theoretically earn ~$140k/yr over 7/10 years leading up to their retirement, earn an average of $200k/yr over the next 2 and $240k over the last and their pension would primarily be calculated off of a ~$213k yearly salary - despite never earning anything close to that prior to their last 3 years of employment?
If the tables were turned, I'd be doing the same exact thing! I can't blame anyone for trying to make as much money as humanly possible....you know what they say, "don't hate the playa, hate the game"
Sorry, but I'm not going to be drawn into a debate about this. The original question asked about the pension system and I've provided the facts about how it works. This thread -- like the dozen or so before it -- will quickly degenerate into a tirade against pensions and unions and civil servants led by the usual suspects with their established agendas. And I'm done with that nonsense.
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