I wish there was a pension database of some type where it would be easy to compare vesting periods, % paid in, how the payout is calculated, ability to defer, COLAs, etc. across the federal and state govts, large school districts, the flagship public uni for each state, etc. We would have a better idea as prospective employees of the benefits we'd have before hiring as the pension rules are clearly important.
I have a federal govt pension that I pay 0.8% into and (hopefully will) get a payment of 1% for each year of work credited (unused sick leave can add to credited time) based on my 3 highest salaries. It took 5 years to vest. E.g. 20 years = 20% of my highest 3 years' salary. Not great (or is it?) but it's cheap on the front end and cheaper than newer federal employees who either pay 3.1% or 4.4% for the same benefit.
I'm not sure how to compare that to my wife's other than with a simple ratio: she pays 14.5% into hers and gets 2.5% of her highest salary for each year she works. So wayyyy more expensive (~18x more) than mine on the front end but it pays out 2.5x as much. So is mine just 7.25x (18.125/2.5) "better" than hers? Even if I paid the newer 4.4% it would still be better than my wife's (1.32x better) in this simple pay in: pay out ratio. But I have no idea how that compares across the country.
I have a 401k equivalent and she has a 403b and 457 but that's mostly irrelevant to the pension comparison aside from the fact that it's harder for many educators at the primary and secondary levels to max out their defined contribution plans when their pension is sucking a hefty %. The 0.8% deduction from my paycheck is hardly noticeable and doesn't really interfere with my ability to save either within or outside of my employee non-pension options. I don't know if that is the normal or abnormal experience for those that pay into pension systems or if it's not so black and white that pensions are bad but perhaps the level of pension required could be investigated further. E.g. Would a pension that had a low % taken out of the paycheck but also had a modest payout during retirement be better than a pension that took a high % out of your paycheck but came with a higher payout - or would no pension existing be best? Keep in mind we're talking in general for the public and not the typical MMM crowd that is going to be more likely to already be above average when it comes to saving.
My opinion of pensions is colored by the facts that my and my wife's employers are safe in terms of solvency, we actively sought out degree-requiring jobs that had pensions, and we like our careers (and even if we didn't like our exact work circumstances, my wife would still be on same pension system as long as she took another job in the same state and I could easily switch branches/divisions/agencies/departments and find something). If pensions go away altogether, I won't lose any sleep over it provided I'm compensated for what I've paid in but I don't think pensions are a bad deal overall. YM clearly V