NY police

I have mentioned a number of times that the biggest economic problem facing cities, counties and state is what are called legacy benefits. These are payments made to retirees, mostly in the form of health care and pensions. In many large cities, policemen are permitted to retire after 20 years of service with pensions equal to one-half to three-quarters pay. New York city is an example. Uniformed city workers can start collecting after 20 years, while others have to wait until their normal retirement age. The pension time bomb is starkly illustrated by the fact that 10,381 retired cops between 40 and 49 are now collecting. On average these retirees will live another 40 years during which time they will collect over 2 million dollars in pension benefits. The city currently has 44,000 retired police and 34,000 active duty police.