Sometimes I wish I found a job with a pension early on and stuck with it. Think about not having to save 20-30% of your income for years, or more likely decades, just so you can retire at a reasonable age.
There is a misconception that everyone with a pension doesn't need to save for retirement. The awesome thing about a pension is the virtual guarantee that it comes with. Like 20 years ago, it was discussed at my job about switching to a 401K/457K type plan with an employer match instead of a pension. For fun, I ran the numbers, and all things equal, if we had gone to the 457 back then, the average worker on my job would have been better off than with the pension today...all things equal. Not to mention that the money would be theirs, and would not go away when they died.
Another thing some don't realize is that many government workers with a defined pension plan do not receive social security, or receive it at a much lower rate if they contributed at other jobs. In my case, I paid into social security for 12 years before obtaining my govt. job. I forget what the percentages are, but I will receive like half of what someone else would receive who didn't have a pension, based on what I contributed...which kind of stinks.
Also, as someone else stated, every pension is different. The average guy/gal who retires from my job earns about 60K per year, in retirement, after working 32 years, with no cost of living increases and no eligibility for social security. We contribute 6-7 percent of our pay a year toward this benefit, with my employer making up the difference to keep it solvent. I live in a high cost of living area, median household incomes are about $77K/year. That being said, smart people move somewhere cheap in retirement and can live very well, especially if they have another source of income. All things considered, I'm glad I went the govt. route and would agree that a pension is a great perk.
