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re: Private Sector vs state employment
Posted on 4/16/24 at 8:13 am to shellbeachspeckzzz
Posted on 4/16/24 at 8:13 am to shellbeachspeckzzz
I've done both.
Private sector: pay is usually far better, profit motive pushes for less tolerance for bad employees... usually (things like DEI being an obvious exception).
Healthcare plans vary wildly, time off is limited.
Retirement can be good, but it's all on you.
Public sector: lower pay but lack of a profit motive can allow for shitty employees to remain far longer than they would in the private sector (even being bounced around).
Healthcare plans are generally better (except for couples), time off can be ridiculously good (depending on the state).
Retirement is solid, you just have to put the time in and be competent enough to not get fired (which can range from being an extremely low bar in some offices to a bar with constantly randomized height in others).
Management in both sectors can be influenced by office politics. Weak management is weak management. That said, I've seen a greater propensity of weak managers in the public sector. Those managers usually promote less-quality employees, then get them promoted to management as well. These managers often job-jump to other agencies before they can be held accountable. The lack of a profit motive and political hirings (unclassified agency heads) seem to allow that to flourish more (or at least be more noticeable) in the public sector than in the private.
I've seen flagrantly wasteful spending in both sectors (see: management), but I've seen less accountability for it in the public sector.
Oddly, I've encountered more who are actually interested in ways to do more while spending less in the public sector, it's just that those management types who aren't concerned with using taxpayer dollars wisely tend to have greater authority in spending (and greater amounts to spend).
A footnote to retirement: It doesn't matter if you worked your full 40 quarters in the Social Security system. Once you become vested in the state's pension plan you automatically lose around half of whatever SS benefits you would have gotten had you done anything else but go to work for a state system which does not pay into the federal government's Ponzi scheme.
Private sector: pay is usually far better, profit motive pushes for less tolerance for bad employees... usually (things like DEI being an obvious exception).
Healthcare plans vary wildly, time off is limited.
Retirement can be good, but it's all on you.
Public sector: lower pay but lack of a profit motive can allow for shitty employees to remain far longer than they would in the private sector (even being bounced around).
Healthcare plans are generally better (except for couples), time off can be ridiculously good (depending on the state).
Retirement is solid, you just have to put the time in and be competent enough to not get fired (which can range from being an extremely low bar in some offices to a bar with constantly randomized height in others).
Management in both sectors can be influenced by office politics. Weak management is weak management. That said, I've seen a greater propensity of weak managers in the public sector. Those managers usually promote less-quality employees, then get them promoted to management as well. These managers often job-jump to other agencies before they can be held accountable. The lack of a profit motive and political hirings (unclassified agency heads) seem to allow that to flourish more (or at least be more noticeable) in the public sector than in the private.
I've seen flagrantly wasteful spending in both sectors (see: management), but I've seen less accountability for it in the public sector.
Oddly, I've encountered more who are actually interested in ways to do more while spending less in the public sector, it's just that those management types who aren't concerned with using taxpayer dollars wisely tend to have greater authority in spending (and greater amounts to spend).
A footnote to retirement: It doesn't matter if you worked your full 40 quarters in the Social Security system. Once you become vested in the state's pension plan you automatically lose around half of whatever SS benefits you would have gotten had you done anything else but go to work for a state system which does not pay into the federal government's Ponzi scheme.
Posted on 4/16/24 at 8:59 am to Bard
quote:
A footnote to retirement: It doesn't matter if you worked your full 40 quarters in the Social Security system. Once you become vested in the state's pension plan you automatically lose around half of whatever SS benefits you would have gotten had you done anything else but go to work for a state system which does not pay into the federal government's Ponzi scheme.
There seems to finally be some momentum to change this foolishness.
The House Ways and Means committee is meeting at 2 P.M. today to discuss the WEP and GPO.
Posted on 4/16/24 at 10:16 am to Bard
quote:
A footnote to retirement: It doesn't matter if you worked your full 40 quarters in the Social Security system. Once you become vested in the state's pension plan you automatically lose around half of whatever SS benefits you would have gotten had you done anything else but go to work for a state system which does not pay into the federal government's Ponzi scheme.
Yes, the Windfall Elimination Provision requires a minimum of 21 years of the minimum qualifying income (i.e. income that has SS taxes taken out) to start reducing the penalty. It takes a full 30 years of minimum qualifying income to eliminate the penalty. Note, the WEP minimum qualifying income is actually higher than the minimum threshold to start taking SS taxes, so even people who paid SS tax may not have made enough to not be penalized. The WEP doesn't kick in specifically because someone has a local or state pension. The WEP requires a minimum income threshold that also had SS taxes taken out.
Also, the SS benefit will already be lower even without the WEP because SS payment is based on 30 years of income and only income that paid SS taxes. So working for the state for 30 years and then social security for 10 consecutive years results in a SS payment calculated using average salary of (10 year+(20*0))/30. That's 20 zeros averaged in.
Posted on 4/16/24 at 10:29 am to Bard
quote:
A footnote to retirement: It doesn't matter if you worked your full 40 quarters in the Social Security system. Once you become vested in the state's pension plan you automatically lose around half of whatever SS benefits you would have gotten had you done anything else but go to work for a state system which does not pay into the federal government's Ponzi scheme.
This statement may not be applicable/accurate depending on which state you are in.
In Alabama, for example, the state does pay into the SS system and you still get your full benefits in addition to your pension.
Posted on 4/16/24 at 1:39 pm to Bard
quote:
A footnote to retirement: It doesn't matter if you worked your full 40 quarters in the Social Security system. Once you become vested in the state's pension plan you automatically lose around half of whatever SS benefits you would have gotten had you done anything else but go to work for a state system which does not pay into the federal government's Ponzi scheme
Not quite-
If you have paid into social security 25+ years, a sliding scale is used to determine benefits paid.
At 30 years, you receive full SS benefits regardless of state pension.
This post was edited on 4/16/24 at 2:03 pm
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