Help me retire early (for the second time) Pls

[Wileykid]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

The only issue I have with the OP's story is the police pension spiking. It's really common in union state & local government jobs. The rest of us have to pay for that. Just because the OP is working overtime (which is typically construction detail work where they sit in a cop car collecting OT) doesn't mean their state/local pension should be doubled. People also spike their pension using accrued vacation & sick time. You'd never see anything like that in the private sector.

I would like to add to the OP's response to this comment to provide a little more information that one can use to make a more informed opinion on "spiking".

First, most departments throughout the country do not count overtime in calculating a retirement pension (usually based off of the officers base salary). That is pretty rare. If an officer is working an overtime job that is providing a service such as traffic control for a construction job, movie security, concert, the company requesting the service is actually being billed for those services. No money comes out of the taxpayers pocket. Actually, most departments "make" money off those by charging more than the actual cost. Of course if it is for the county/city/state entity that the department is a part of, than yes, the taxpayer is paying.

The real "barometer" of if the pay/pension of the police officer is good, is if the police departments are fully staffed. You may be surprised that most are not. Most of the larger ones are running at 80% staffed or less. So, if an officer can look forward to "spiking" his/her pension in order to provide a decent retirement pay for the job they did, is it bad? You do know that statistically the lifespan of a retired police officer is pretty short compared to the average person.

I do agree that there is "spiking" by workers that are working jobs that are not dangerous is wrong.

This again is to provide more information, not as an argument for or against.

To the OP, good luck. Looks like you are on the right track.

Mark
(retired after 33 years as a LEO)

[Vicus]

Originally Posted by luzianne

How dangerous is your law enforcement job? You sound like you have it made financially and could get by without it or at least without working overtime. What good is all of it going to be if your wife, son and baby daughter lose you?


To me, it seems like you could work a few more years WITHOUT working overtime and still be able to retire comfortably.

Pretty dangerous but it's more of a physical aspect. Feel like I am destroying my body a little more every year. I will be retiring by the summer of 2019. I feel like I am good money wise. If something surprises me then I will look at getting another job but far away from the high cost of living in my current location.