Senior Member
If I have to retire before Oct., it will affect my pension, but at a very minimal amount. If I stay until Dec., which I currently plan on doing, I'll receive slightly, more, money in my monthly pension. If I end up having to retire on a Disability Pension, I'll receive a significant amount of extra money in my monthly payments, plus, I'll receive free medical benefits for life. That's a savings (for me) of about $900.00 per month.Originally Posted by Maverick_U2007 Go to original post
The vast majority of police departments in the USA are comprised of small towns and boroughs. The big cities account for a mere fraction of all police in this country. Same thing for fire departments. There's an old wives tale, a myth, an urban legend, that police receive medical benefits compliments of "John Q. Public" (i.e., the taxpayer) but that's hogwash. Only the big cities might provide such a benefit and possibly a tiny fraction of the smaller towns. The vast majority of us have to purchase our own insurance coverage. I'm fortunate that I am only required to purchase at half price, but that looks like it'll change during the next contract.
It's a bit disheartening to know that, here in NJ, decades of politicians borrowing from the Police and Firemens pension fund, along with haphazard investments (again by politicians) with that fund has resulted in one of the biggest pension deficits this state has ever seen. The result is that, the people here have to endure increased taxes to repair the pension fund that the politicians squandered, and the Police and Firemen get blamed for it (get paid too much, too many benefits, etc.). The saddest part is, the public believes their rhetoric without researching the (readily available) info online. The headlines are all there, if they really wanted to know the truth, but they don't. They want to blame somebody, so they believe what they want to believe. We write tickets, make arrests, tow peoples' cars, etc., so police are the favorites on the "We Love To Hate" list. Everybody loves firemen, so despite enduring the same cuts that we do, they don't get the backlash as much. People love to rally when a Fire Station is closed and Firemen are laid off. When is the last time you saw a rally for police layoffs and precinct closings? It never happens, and that's a major clue. Anyway, I'm off topic here. Fact is, the longer I stay, even into the new year, I'll receive more money in pension payments (albeit I'm talking fractions here) for each consecutive month I stay.
Senior Member
All the best mate - hope things go the best way for you. In this country our Police are treated with the utmost respect (except by the crims) and they deserve it - we have a system of a single Police Force for each State, and the Australian Federal Police. We all know the Ambos, Firerys and Police are underpaid.
