Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
You invest an extremely little amount towards the pension. I'm not saying it is wrong or right. I don't think people realize how little actually is invested versus what is received at the end.

We can end the entire argument by allowing each employee invest their own money for their own retirement like the majority of people do.
Res..make note...and this is key...it's not INVESTED. investments have risk. a contribution (deferral) to the state plan is not an investment at all. What they have is simply a token, nominal DEFERRAL which makes it look like they are investing. its just the price of admission to the guaranteed lottry annuity payout. They are guaranteed their payouts based on A) time served, and B) compensation. NOWHERE is the "amount contributed (not invested, but CONTRIBUTED), factored in. So, there is no "retirn on investment"..its "guaranteed lottery ticket" payout after X years, and Z compsensation. 100% Riskfree...but if you wanted to figure an ROI, it would be beyond obscene..FAR in excess of anything you'd ever see in a true "investment" scenario. Explore it for fun...