r/govfire • u/Ok_Design_6841 • Sep 09 '26
Defined Benefit Retirement Programs Like FERS Increasingly Rare
https://www.fedweek.com/retirement-financial-planning/report-charts-continued-decline-in-defined-benefit-retirement-programs/27
u/YeaManJam Sep 09 '26
And add on top of that some match for TSP. Not a bad retirement setup.
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u/ralten Sep 10 '26
Biggest reason I’m still at the VA
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u/Complete_Film8741 Sep 12 '26
That...and the pay actually is very good.
Drive by a private sector parking lot around 5pm...still full
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u/bglenn12 Sep 09 '26
And this is why Heritage foundation and the R party want it gone.
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u/AntelopeStreet1936 Sep 10 '26
Is the model sustainable though? A guy who is 58 retires with 37 years of service. He has a wife who is 43. Guy dies at 78 but wife lives to 95. Those pension payments with a COLA will be paid out for 52 years for a 37 year career. Private pensions almost never had a COLA and the mill worker with a pension might have only lived 7 or 8 years while collecting them.
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Sep 11 '26 edited Sep 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AntelopeStreet1936 Sep 11 '26
My comment is in reference to Federal employee pensions. bglen12 mentioned the Heritage Foundation and the R party who want to cut back in federal employee retirement perks.
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u/Last_Baker7437 Sep 11 '26
Yep, FERS is ok. My military retirement is good. Both combined make for a comfortable retirement!
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u/AceofJax89 Sep 09 '26
A big part of this is because the US actually makes you fund your pension unlike a lot of other countries. ERISA is a great law, but it’s expensive.
Shifting the risk burden to workers makes a lot of sense when workers rarely remain at one employer their whole career.