FEELING SORRY FOR GOVERNMENT RETIREES

In these tough economic times, there are people in our state who are really struggling. The plight of one group has gotten very little attention. These folks are facing quite a difficult burden. They are government workers who retired in the prime of life and were forced to collect large, guaranteed annual pensions.

A couple of examples: The assistant police chief in New Haven recently retired. At the ripe old age of 48 she will receive $117,750 per year. A few years ago an employee of the Town of Manchester, who started working for the town in his mid-20s, began collecting $90,000 per year in pension payments at age 52. Similar examples can be found in every community.

The number of municipal, state, and federal employees who end their work careers in their late 40s and early 50s, and then immediately begin collecting huge pension payments, is growing each and every month.

This is a really sad situation. Imagine being at the height of your career. Years of experience have given you much wisdom, and your body is still reasonably energetic enough to work hard each day. You are a skillful, effective, and productive employee. Suddenly, it all comes to an end. You retire and start collecting your guaranteed pension.

Now what? You no longer have any important responsibilities. You have no financial worries. You are forced to wile away the remaining decades of your life engaged in such meaningless activities as fishing, golf, travel, and vacations. There is no excitement; there is no challenge; there is no adventure; there is nothing to make you feel needed or useful. If you decide to sleep late, stay in your pajamas all day, and watch Oprah and Judge Judy on TV, no one even notices. Even though you are a strong, healthy, skillful middle-aged person, you can act like you are 85 years old. No one is counting on you anymore. No one expects anything from you anymore. What a humiliating situation.

Thankfully, those of us in private sector occupations are not saddled with this burden. In our late 40s or early 50s, the thought of retirement is not even on the radar screen. Our 401k plans have been decimated by the recession, so nothing is guaranteed. That is quite an invigorating challenge.

Nowadays we in the private sector are working harder than ever, since many of our co-workers have been laid off. And most of us have been forced to take pay cuts and/or contribute more toward our health benefits, so our take-home pay has been drastically reduced. Now that is what I call excitement. Talk about thrills. Talk about feeling needed. Our firms need us to do twice as much work just to stay in business. Our families need us somehow to makes ends meet each month with less money. That gives a person a very strong sense of purpose. That is being fully alive.

But those poor souls in the public sector, with their early retirements and guaranteed pensions payments, do not get the chance to experience life to the fullest. A sense of purpose and the feeling of being needed are tragically snatched from them at an all too early age. What a shame.

So let’s not forget those folks in our communities who have been saddled with the burden of free time and lots of money. It’s not their fault. They did not realize how tough it would be when they chose government careers. We must be compassionate toward them in their hour of need.