Why do we have a pension system at all. ONly 18% of private industry does and that number goes down every year. Let them contribute to a 401k like the rest of us.

As a teacher, my expected income from a state pension when I retire will be a whooping $33,000/year, if that. A friend of mine just retired from a Lancaster area district and his retirement pay is over $100,000/year. Where do you think new teachers are going to go? This is why so many teachers leave Maryland. Many people get vested after 5 years and their retirement benefit after 5 years exceeds mine, even after working 30 years. Once again, there is an outcry about state employees but no one screams about the huge salaries pro athletes get, and then demand more more even in this economy. Education is not a priority in our country and the impact of that is becoming greater and soon may be irreversible.

Is the chart for State employees only, or does it include local teachers' pensions, which the State is also responsible for paying?

Includes teachers. JH

Do away with the pension system. Bring in a 401k and contribute to your own retirement. The state can then match some portion of your contribution. The free hand out days s/b over.

Yes, can you break that out by teachers, judicial branch, legislative branch, and executive branch employees? That is where the real comparison is. Not all plans are equal, even though all are classified as "state employees." Don't forget, the governor will begin drawing his $75,000/year pension the day he leaves office (the Glendenning Rule). And that's just for his governor's pension, what about the time he was mayor? Talk about your double dippers.

Jay - thanks for the breakdown. It took awhile to translate the data. But if my/your calculations are correct: 52% of state employees have a monthly pension of $2000 or less, 30% have a pension between $2000 and $3000 per month. So only 20% of state employees take home a pension in excess of $3000 a month. Is the amount of the pension what is busting the system - or is it the poor management of the fund. Remember, the fund was at 101% not too long ago and is now at only 63%. Sorry, can't lay all that at the feet of the economy. My conserative IRA didn't lose that much.

Hi Deb. It's not the pension managers. It's 1) The state's reduction in fund contributions over the past decade. And 2) The stock market crash & the economic slump. Of those two factors, No. 2 is the most important. Pension funds must be invested in stocks to a significant degree, and every state's pension fund lost value during the crisis & aftermath. JH

To Dave and Elweez,
How well has the 401k approached worked in the private sector? Not well.

What happens if you drop pensions for gov't employees? You many good ones unles you significantly raise their actual salaries.

Stop being jealous of pensions for folks who agreed to accept less money upfront in return for reirement security. If you don't want to pay for gov't, you won't get it--trouble is, you depend on it in many ways you either don't think about or won't admit.

Full disclosure: I am a former state employee, but not one entitled to a state pension-I left because voters already didn't support paying people like me enough salary and now they pay me more for the same work.

It astonishes me that the retort of private sector employees who watched Congress and their employers destroy their pensions over the past 20 years is... destroy the pensions of State employees, too. Rather than asking why State employees get a defined-benefit pension (short answer: appalling pay and mediocre benefits are the trade-off), why not ask why the non-union private sector destroyed its own pension plans? In the late 1970s, did Congress pass laws which eventually led to all non-union private-sector working people in the US mailing a percentage of their paychecks to a tiny number of very rich people in New York, who then essentially engaged in Vegas-style gambling with Other People's Money and paid themselve breathtaking sums whether their wagering was successful or not.

The State already finds it incredibly difficult to attract competent people at high-skill positions. The State's benefits (aside from the pension) are no better, and often worse, than those offered by other large companies. The pay for doctors, lawyers, engineers, and accountants is a fraction of what they would be paid in the private sector. These professionals go to work for the State and take the tremendous pay cut in return for regular hours and a good pension. Thanks to furloughs and cutbacks, they are now working the same 50-60 hours a week as their private sector counterparts (for half the pay) and now you want to eliminate the defined-benefit pension, too?

When you go to a State hospital and have LPNs operating on you because no doctor will work under those conditions... when the Attorney General's office, formerly known as the Best Law Firm In Maryland, is staffed entirely by law clerks... when the bridges you drive over are designed by college interns... you will truly get what you pay for.

Don't complain that State pensions are reasonable (NOT generous, as this chart shows). Complain that the private sector has destroyed the pensions of non-union workers everywhere else.

Well, it looks like it's maybe 10 dozen people who are over $100,000. Not that it changes your point, but that's probably more than a few dozen.

It looks like the state is current paying out about $210 million a year in benefits to retirees. Do you know how much money is in the pension trust fund?

Also it would be interesting to see how that $210 million is projected to change over time - current retirees will be dying, benefits will be increasing for cost-of-living, new retirees will be coming in, etc. My guess is the $210 million payout will increase each year.

Thanks Jay. I support pensions for gov jobs and I am from the private sector. However there are no guarantees. Its really amazing to see the pension troopers on this and many blogs feel that they have sacrificed and unconditionally deserve their pension. Private sector only has themselves to blame right?

I feel the pain of the public sector. They stuck to jobs where there was little advancement and a lot of headaches in the daily dialogue where the worst never get fired. Personally I could have never put up with the mediocrity myself so give them a pension.

Sad news though and I don't like to see people screwed. Martin Omalley and the rest will turn their backs on you like the private sector did.

Leisure retirement is over in America. It will be return to the extended family, the crowded house. Grandparents raising babies instead of golfing; teenagers helping mom and dad care for grandma instead of the nursing home.

Call it higher reading scores, lower crime, and a better society if you ask me.

Hi Jay. It seems to me the reasonable objection to defined-benefit plans in general--whether they're in the private or public sector--is that they promise an outcome for a particular segment of the population that may turn out to be better than the economy delivers for society as a whole. If the promise is substantially out of line with reality, it can't be delivered on--as many beneficiaries of private sector plans have discovered, and as public-sector beneficiaries are beginning to. In a sense these promises are fraudulent at the outset. On that basis alone, they should be scrapped in favor of defined-contribution plans, which recognize economic uncertainty. The special pleading we've heard over the years from industrial workers, as the PBGC takes over failed private-sector plans at taxpayer expense, is mild compared to the cries of unfairness from teachers and other public employees who apparently believe they're entitled to be sheltered in their later years from the economic reality the rest of society has to face. Too bad.

Ok Jay, it seems like you surprised yourself when you found out how few people make over $100k in the State pension system. Must have been a shock to your system. Now go after the problem where it really exists, which is Montgomery and PG Counties and the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. I can't wait until your print the stratification of payments for those systems. Maybe then you will learn not to lump all government employees in one basket.

Jay - Thanks for the table and the column. Articles and columns on this topic often contrast private sector benefits with the government benefits. I'm curious how they compare if you look at similar sized companies with a similar mix of professional and skilled employees.

The latest budget presentation shows around 51,000 executive branch employees. How do the pensions and 401(k) package for State employees compare to private sector companies with 40,000 to 60,000 employees? I think you would want to exclude retail and hospitality companies.

For every Civil Servant job that opens up 4.5 Gazillion people apply. Why ? Because of cushy jobs that you cant ever get fired in. Teachers moan and groan as if 'lower pay' and unruly students was some kind of surprise the day after they take their position. Working 20 years and receiving a giant fat pension ? From taxpayers the same damn age working 50+ hours a week until they're 55.....60....65. Outrageous. No Public Unions. Taxpayers want the best price we can get for dollar spent, you know---the same way Teachers and Cops buy their cars and houses.

I see no reason why the state can't simply slash pensions to be no more than $5k per month. You do a felony crime, you lose your pension.

Also, people like former Mayor Shlia Dixon with a PBJ should have the pension removed. PBJ is the same is being guilty.