Op - yes I logged into my online pension account and that is what it says $5700 per month at retirement age.

I will have been with my state agency for 30 years if I stay til 57.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically anyone with a pension will be fine in retirement.

Depends when you started.

For our state government:
Those who have recently retired/will retire in the next 5 years have amazing pensions. They did not contribute a dime, their pension is based on highest earning year (which magically seems to line up with a big promotion and pay bump right before retirement), and worker and spouse have fully funded health insurance. Pension amount is 2% of highest salary for each year for 20 years, 3% each year 20-30. Up to a pension of 70% of highest salary.

Fast forward to the state realizing this is not sustainable. Employees hired later contribute for the duration of their employment. Pension is based on a 5-Year average salary, with any salary amount that is over 10% increase of the average of the 5 years prior thrown out, your pension is 1.66% for each year 1-20, 2% for each year from 20-30. You can use state employee health insurance but you pay.

Of course, there are trade-offs. You don’t have to worry about getting laid-off in your 50s/60s!

Thank you for this but can you pls clarify - why only those retiring in the next 5 years as opposed to 10 years?

If you start maxing out your 401K, you will have over a $1million in it by the time you are 58 (assuming a 6% growth). This means that you'd have another 40K a year you could safely withdraw at 58 on top of the 60K from your pension. So up the savings!

Anonymous wrote:Basically anyone with a pension will be fine in retirement.

Depends when you started.

For our state government:
Those who have recently retired/will retire in the next 5 years have amazing pensions. They did not contribute a dime, their pension is based on highest earning year (which magically seems to line up with a big promotion and pay bump right before retirement), and worker and spouse have fully funded health insurance. Pension amount is 2% of highest salary for each year for 20 years, 3% each year 20-30. Up to a pension of 70% of highest salary.

Fast forward to the state realizing this is not sustainable. Employees hired later contribute for the duration of their employment. Pension is based on a 5-Year average salary, with any salary amount that is over 10% increase of the average of the 5 years prior thrown out, your pension is 1.66% for each year 1-20, 2% for each year from 20-30. You can use state employee health insurance but you pay.

Of course, there are trade-offs. You don’t have to worry about getting laid-off in your 50s/60s!

Anonymous wrote:Cfiresim is a much easier version, but I doubt you need to use that either

Sorry that was in comparison to firecalc— not used to the new format yet

Cfiresim is a much easier version, but I doubt you need to use that either

Basically anyone with a pension will be fine in retirement.

Anonymous wrote:I am 39 and only have around $100,000 saved in retirement - been a low earner for the past 10 years (only making around $65,000 a year). However I do have a pension and right now it says I can retire at 58 years old with $5700 per month.

I am currently saving a mandatory 5% each month (being matched by my employer) and also putting an additional $250 per pay check into a 403(b).

Give to me straight - is this super low in terms of retirement savings?

Retiring at 58 with $5700 per month pension with your income (income is relatively low) is impossibly high. You should go back and check these numbers.

Anonymous wrote:That is impressive that the pension is higher than your income.

Op - income has gone up steadily over the past 2-3 years. Now I make $130,000

That is impressive that the pension is higher than your income.

Anonymous wrote:I am 39 and only have around $100,000 saved in retirement - been a low earner for the past 10 years (only making around $65,000 a year). However I do have a pension and right now it says I can retire at 58 years old with $5700 per month.

I am currently saving a mandatory 5% each month (being matched by my employer) and also putting an additional $250 per pay check into a 403(b).

Give to me straight - is this super low in terms of retirement savings?

Yes. Low.

Anonymous wrote:https://firecalc.com/

Omg this looks so complicated I didn’t even know where to start.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am 39 and only have around $100,000 saved in retirement - been a low earner for the past 10 years (only making around $65,000 a year). However I do have a pension and right now it says I can retire at 58 years old with $5700 per month.

I am currently saving a mandatory 5% each month (being matched by my employer) and also putting an additional $250 per pay check into a 403(b).

Give to me straight - is this super low in terms of retirement savings?

You are all set.

- Your pension is worth about a million at the time you retire.
- You are saving about 15% of your salary (20K/yr). With another 19 years to go and adding in the 100K you already have and assuming an 8% avg. return you should be at about $1.2 mil by then.
- Add in SS

You are all set. Just don't quit your government job. That would be a big mistake.

OP - thanks! that makes me feel much better! And I plan on staying in my job till I retire. Just got promoted and this is it for me - unless its an internal promotion again. I don't plan on going outside the organization.

DH has his own retirement savings as well (higher than mine - more like $50,000+ per year being put away) but we are way way way behind in savings between paying off student loans and paying daycare. I think DH has something around $200,000-$300,000 saved? Maybe a little more? Which seems like not a lot given our age but his retirement savings is a mandatory $50,000 per year for the foreseeable future so he will quickly play catch up I think.

Welcome. Adding your spouse's numbers will make your retirement plan even more solid. Just create a spreadsheet and plug in your numbers - current salary, savings amount, growth, etc. and you'll see that you guys are more than fine. The most important thing is to make sure your expenses don't run wild and you are saving a good chunk of your income in your 403B as well as outside brokerage accounts. Good luck!

https://firecalc.com/