Sun-Times looks at pension “millionaires”
Friday, Sep 11, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The big Sun-Times front-page headline today is about government “pension millionaires.” But that label is a bit misleading. The paper calculates the term “millionaire” based on those who have “collected more than $1 million each from their pensions.”
If you retire at 65 and collect a $40K average annual pension check for 25 years, then you’re a millionaire, according to the Sun-Times.
Still, the millionaire roster includes some impressive names. Noted reformer Dawn Clark Netsch has collected $1.4 million in pension checks since January of 1995. Jim Thompson has pulled in $1.7 million since 1991. Former New Trier High School superintendent Hank Bangser has raked in $1.1 million just since July of 2006.
* From the CS-T’s story…
The state’s richest government pension goes to Dr. Alon P. Winnie, former chairman of anesthesiology at Cook County Hospital and the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago. Winnie, 77, has two pensions that total $447,233 a year. He has collected more than $3 million since retiring. He doesn’t think that’s excessive: “If you were with a good company, you’d have a helluva lot better benefits.”
* Yikes…
Emil Jones Jr. is about to hit the pension jackpot.
The retired Illinois Senate president’s state pension this year: $81,016.
In January, a year after his retirement, it skyrockets 51 percent, to $122,334, far more than his final Senate salary of $95,313.
That’s when the Chicago Democrat cashes in on two pension sweeteners that legislators set up for themselves: a longevity bonus for serving more than 20 years in the Illinois Legislature and a cost-of-living increase.
* JBT’s pension shows why current law ought to be changed…
Topinka’s current yearly pension is $141,482.
That’s 23 percent more than what she was making when she retired from state government in January 2007.
Topinka’s pension isn’t based on her final salary of $115,235.
Instead, it’s based on a salary of $130,324 — the salary that had been set for the state treasurer’s post at that time but which the Illinois Legislature didn’t fund at that level until seven months after she retired, according to Timothy Blair, administrator of the General Assembly Retirement System.
* If you’d like to search individual pension checks, you can click here and pay a small fee.
* Thoughts?
- Shore - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:30 am:
1. Nothing makes me sicker than Republicans who live off the public trough. I assume it’s the equivalent for my dem friends of their people voting to go to war.
2. Before we raise taxes a nickel these folks should have their pensions cut. I’d love to contrast this with what the pensions are for 20 year olds who fought in falluja or helmand province.
- wordslinger - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:33 am:
I’m not terribly surprised at the number for the gas-passer. That’s a high-paying (and high-risk in terms of liability) job whether you’re a government employee or not.
The elected official numbers go a long way toward explaining why every long-term member of the GA wants to be Lt. Gov (and why GA members are content to be mushrooms for so long).
But the suburban school sups. and principals have it the best. Believe me, I know a few, and it’s a sweet deal. Work 25, 30 years, take a buyout and retire at about 90% of your last position’s current salary.
A couple I know burned through their own portion of pension contributions in 5 years.
- Way South of the Border - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:34 am:
Does the ST’s “data lounge” come with drinks and peanuts? Really interesting way of framing and selling news in the digital era. Probably worth a post in and of itself.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:35 am:
===Before we raise taxes a nickel these folks should have their pensions cut.===
Can’t be done. Not even if you change the state Constitution.
Try to stay in reality here. Thanks.
- Shore - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:37 am:
You can’t pass a tax specifically targeted at these folks?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:41 am:
A tax?
Since Illinois does not tax pension income at all, and the Constitution requires flat tax rates and has an equal protection clause, I highly doubt it.
- dave - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:41 am:
You can’t pass a tax specifically targeted at these folks?
Yes… you can. Kind of. You can’t pass a tax that specifically targets government pensions. But you can pass a tax that would tax all pensions/annuities, or all pensions/annuities over a certain level.
- raising kane - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:41 am:
Those numbers are an eye-opener. It seems to me that Topinka will make a lot less being Comptroller than she does being retired. I applaud her for that….most people would take the money and run.
- The Doc - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:42 am:
==The elected official numbers go a long way toward explaining why every long-term member of the GA wants to be Lt. Gov (and why GA members are content to be mushrooms for so long).==
Bingo.
And politically speaking, adequately funding pensions is nonsensical. It’s a constitutional guarantee, and doesn’t result in any tangible benefit in terms of services or quality of life for the voting populace.
Tick tock…
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:42 am:
Well, a million ain’t what it used to be, either.
- Downstater - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:44 am:
“Nothing makes me sicker than Republicans who live off the public trough”
Duh!! Dawn Clark Netsch and Emil Jones are democrats.
And the people keep voting for these government officials who keep giving themselves lucrative pensions and benefits.
- cassandra - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:47 am:
I guess its time for another set of laws to scrunch down those over the top political figure pensions some more. I believe the last efforts in this direction were quite a few years ago.
AS to certain teachers and administrators…don’t their local communities bear some of the responsibility here. The school board loves so and so school principal (regardless of whether the kids are actually getting an education) and they plump up his salary and hence his pension and then don’t we all have to pay.
Another reason to keep an eye on your local pols. Ok now, how many of you can name the school board chief and the school board members. Quick…Do you know how to e-mail them.
- Shore - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:48 am:
Republican leaders pretend to tell us that they are fiscal conservatives, things like this are shots at the heart of the faithful from Topinka.
I struggle to believe there is no way that the state can recoup some of this money. What’s also troubling is that there was no mention of things like health benefits and that I’ve read that state legislators are supposed to be part-time jobs meaning that they are making 100k pensions on top of whatever private sector work they did.
- Johnny USA - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:48 am:
What part of ‘Get in, get yours, and get out’ don’t you people understand?
This has been straight pool in Illinois/Cook/Chicago since day one.
- Niles Township - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:51 am:
Again, we need to end the pensions for new state employees and have them have the 401ks that all the rest of us have now. Can’t do anything about those that already have it, but why perpetuate it?
- just sayin - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:53 am:
The IL constitution never envisioned some of the games that have been played. It’s an unconscionable contract where there was no meeting of the minds with the people of Illinois. Talking about in the case of some of these really outrageous sums.
Bottom line, they’re all pigs.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:54 am:
===But you can pass a tax that would tax all pensions/annuities, or all pensions/annuities over a certain level. ===
No, you can’t do that. See my comment above for why.
- John Bambenek - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:54 am:
Rich-
Strictly speaking you CAN reduce pensions (and I’m not counting the “benefits” like health insurance that isn’t strictly pension and can be cut at any time). What you’d need is to get the person involved to agree to that pension reduction.
Problem is, they wouldn’t do it. Why would they? They’ve gotten out of the game, bad PR is irrelevant now.
We should cap future pension benefits to some multiplier of the current federal poverty line. Say 4x. I think that puts a max pension aroud 80k.
Or better yet, all politicians and high-paying state jobs (future hires) be put into 401k systems. Still would be a sweet deal but taxpayers wouldn’t have to pay the “investment risk” or for the sweeteners (at least not in perpetuity).
For now, I saw we make everyone who makes 80k+ in pension, pays for their own insurance.
- John Bambenek - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:57 am:
Taxing retirement benefits would not be considered a “pension reduction” per the contracts clause.
That’s not diminishing the “contract” because you still get X dollars, you’re just taxed differently. The state doesn’t guarantee pensions be tax free within the context of the employment contract.
Of course, taxing retirement would also be politically unteneable.
And taxing above X amount would likely be considered against the “flat tax” clause in the state constitution.
- Spiney Norman - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:57 am:
Let’s not confuse these people with your run of the mill State worker. The average joe will be lucky to get 30% of his salary for retirement. Only the legislator’s and elected officials get this kind of dough. Oh, but these the same ones who make the rules. Just say no to incumbents.
- Inquiring Mind - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:58 am:
What happens to these pensions if the state goes bankrupt (receivership)? Can these pensions be “adjusted” the same way a private corporation in bankruptcy reduces pensions or would it still be a violation of the state constitution?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 10:59 am:
===if the state goes bankrupt===
No state has gone bankrupt.
- raising kane - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:02 am:
maybe John knows the answer to this, but is it true that you dont collect from social security for your state service if you are in the GA system?
- raising kane - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:04 am:
And why isn’t Jim Edgar in that story. I would imagine his would be the highest.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:05 am:
===I would imagine his would be the highest. ===
According to the story, Edgar has not yet hit the million mark.
- John Bambenek - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:05 am:
Strictly speaking, no state CAN go bankrupt. As far as I have been told, bankruptcy court is not open to the states.
There is the interpretation of the Contracts Clause that a state can violate it if there is a clear, compelling and overwhelming public interest in doing so.
The courts, however, will not find such a reason here because the core problem with our pensions is the state always shorting their contribution. Courts take a dim view of letting you out of situations of your own making due to poor judgment and short-sightedness.
- Inish - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:08 am:
Would JBT continue to draw her pension while also receiving a salary for Comptroller?
Several area Supers. retire and then get hired at another school district and collect a salary -
I am all for making your own way- but to retire at a rate HIGHER than your pay- that is just a sin
- JohnnyBGood - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:11 am:
Shore: who are “these folks” you are so eager to f*ck?! The “millionaire’s club” includes, as Mr. Miller ably points out, a civil servant who lives 25 years after retirement on a $40k pension, or 20 years on a $50k pension, etc.
Do you really think that there shouldn’t be anyone working for the government making over, say, $75k?! Doctors? Judges? Principals? Because as long as there are retired civil servants who made $75k or more annually — or who have the greedy temerity to live over 20 years after retiring — there WILL be members of the millionaire’s club for the Sun-Times, the so-called Bright One, to wring its hands over.
As to the Sun-Times editorializing against the continued existence of government pensions in their “news” article:
1) 401Ks are popular with private-sector employers because of favorable tax treatment and because a company can cheaply lard its employee 401Ks with the company’s own shares. Neither applies to government, and that’s why government employees still have pensions.
2) Hasn’t the Sun-Times not been making ITS pension contributions?! Pot, kettle, black.
- John Bambenek - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:11 am:
raising kane-
That’s correct. Employee contributions to the pension are in lieu of Social Security. However, if you make any outside money, that is taxed by Social Security with no credit to your pension contribution. (i.e. You only pay Soc Sec on the first ~$85k or so of your income. The specific number changes annually. So if you make $100k in a state job, and $20k outside, you pay SocSec based on that $20k.)
- raising kane - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:12 am:
Topinka hasnt hit a million either and she is in there.
- CLJ - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:17 am:
Some day I’ll live the Illinois dream by being a city of chicago employee and an elected state official to collect that double dip flavored salary and pension. If elected to office, I promise to do away with the pension system exactly 10 years after I have qualified for both. That’s a promise I might keep!
- Shore - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:20 am:
It’s friday and I don’t have the energy to fight this all out, but I’m not talking about the state rep who could have made a lot more money in his private affairs but did this and deserves a pension. I’m talking about the ridiculousness of a new trier superintendent making 8 million in retirement or these state legislators making 100k plus in retirement for what are supposed to be part time jobs. What part of the sentence part-time state legislator becoming retirement millionaire makes sense? And in a recession.
It’s part of a larger problem of state policymakers that focus on what government can do for it not what it can do for society and probably why we can’t even do things like state college admissions without corruption.
- raising kane - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:21 am:
thanks John, that means many of these people, like Topinka will not get social security like most others. Which the ST should have pointed out. It would also be nice if they would run a story about how much they contributed into the system and much they would have in a retirement account if they had done so. State employees always take heat for their pensions but if you do the math and factor in the actuarial tables it isn’t as good as it looks. It is still a good deal to be sure and every state employee wants their pension but they do contribute a substantial amount of their annual pay into that system.
- Anon - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:27 am:
People on state and local government payrolls used to be outside Social Security. However, since about 50 years ago, the governmental unit can elect in. Just about all state employees participate in Social Security now, so their pensions are in addition to Social Security. I don’t know about elected officials. Many teachers are still outside Social Security, which is one reason their pensions are higher than other state employees’. Their contributions are higher, too, but I believe their contributions are still less than regular state workers pay in FICA tax plus pension contributions.
- Yellow Dog - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:47 am:
=== Thoughts? ===
Yes…pension “reform” is more likely today than yesterday to become part of the budget debate.
Which makes it much, much harder to pass a tax hike.
Which makes it much more likely that we’ll result to cuts and parlor tricks to close next year’s $11.7 BILLION budget hole.
We should start working on themes for overtime session now.
- Distant Observer - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:50 am:
State employees do pay into the SS system. Unsure about legislators and constitutionals.
- moron - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:51 am:
Across town the Trib has launched a new initiative, free online databases of FOIA results:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/data/
There’s some retirees I’m curious about, but I’m not sure if I’m $1.99 curious, and I don’t think there’s enough wonks out there to make charging fees worthwhile. If 60,800,000 people pay to access the pension data, CS-T could settle with the IRS.
I doubt charging an access fee is going to be very successful. Good luck with that, CS-T.
- raising kane - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 11:52 am:
I don’t believe legislators or constitutionals do, they put it all into that pension system I am not sure about Judges.
- John Bambenek - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 12:00 pm:
I was a Univ employee until a year ago, and I did NOT pay into SocSec. I was assumed all state employees were not opted-in.
- Irish - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 12:05 pm:
Apparently the ST has taken a swat at this and left the impression that all state workers have the potential of being millionaires with their pensions. As with every subject if you do not delve deep into the facts you won’t get the true story and the ST has not done this. This is another case of irresponsible journalism in that the ST knew they were going to stir up contoversey, they knew they would get the public riled up against this pension debt that everyone assumes exists because all state workers are getting rich off of their pension and leaving taxpayers holding the bag. They didn’t care. They want to sell papers.
The truth is that there are many different pension tiers in the pension system. Apparently the GA has a pretty good system. Surprised? I agree that no one should make more with their pension than they did when they were working, public or private sector.
There is another tier that id called the alternative formula. The employees in this group are in jobs considered more dangerous or high risk. Police Officers, Corrections employees, and some IDOT employees and others fall in to this category. This group gets higher pay scale and a different retirement package than the other state employees. They may retire earlier and at a higher percentage of their pay than the regular state employee.
There are employees who did not pay into Social Security and will not receive it. Their pensions are higher than those who will also receive social security.
Then there are the rest of the employees who get a pension that will not exceed or gome close to being any where near what they earned while they were working. It all depends on the number of years a person works.
So before anyone starts attacking the rank and file state worker for their pensions, research the issue thouroughly. Ask yourself if you would do what they have done for the number of years they have done it, for the pay that they were paid, and then look at the pension they will receive and it might not be as far out of line as the “rags” make it out to be.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 12:06 pm:
Should citizens receive pay and pensions when they work in governments? Are we expecting them to do this work pro bono?
If we live long enough on a pension, it will add up to a million dollars. Duh! May we all live long enough to accomplish this goal!
- John Bambenek - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 12:19 pm:
Re: “They want to sell papers”.
Remember, the product the media (print, TV news, radio) sells is not information. What they sell is advertising which is directly tied to # of people that read and/or watch.
If they get more people, they’ll do it. Sound information is not their first principle any more.
- GA Watcher - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 12:26 pm:
It will be interesting to see the Governor’s reaction to this report. Will he create a special panel to investigate pension sweeteners? Maybe he’ll make future pension benefit increases for public employees subject to referendum like he has done with local ethics standards and hopes to do with his amendatory veto re video gaming.
- Irish - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 12:26 pm:
John,
I agree. I guess I am getting old enough that I can remember when journalists were journalists, elected officials were statesmen, and if you sold a product and it was in high demand it still sold for the same price as it did when it was not so needed. (I think if the local butcher shop would have doubled the price on chickens just cause people were needing chickens he would have been run out of the neighborhood and now it is an accepted practice.) What we are willing to accept as a society has slowly eroded away and that is why we are in the fix we are in today.
- Cubs Win - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 12:54 pm:
The bigger story might be on Sunday when they publish a piece on double-dippers. These are the employees who retire, begin collecting their pensions and then go back to work for the state collecting a montly paycheck in addition to their retirement check. I’m very curious to see this list because a number of these people go back to the SAME JOBS at the SAME AGENCIES they had before “retiring.” This is something that can easily be addressed by the legislature if they choose to do so.
- dupage dan - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 1:00 pm:
One more opportunity to bash people who work for the state gov’t. You can find examples of excesses in any system whether it be health care, pensions, executive pay/bonusus, etc. To highlight the abuses and use same to smear the whole group is pandering at its’ best(worst?). Something the news outlets thrive on. You can see it in the health care debate where the boogey man of the moment is the insurance industry. There are real monsters out there (RodB) and there are real excesses double dipping that result in late career promotions that last just enough time to get that bump. We should make sure those opportunities are limited as much as possible. If you save money on your own (you know, working for yourself and gouging the customers to make a bigger profit so you can enrich yourself at their expense) and develop a portfolio that reaps you “millions” over a 20 year retirement, should you also be penalized for that?
- He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 1:33 pm:
THis goes to show why there should be ONE pension system for State Government. The Fat Cats get Fatter.
If you didn’t read the article you would think that EVERYONE in state government has a high $$ pension, the normal workforce isn’t anywhere close to what the Elected Officials and Judges get. (State Police and Corrections excluded)
- up2now - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 1:35 pm:
This is, indeed, an eye-opening topic. All of these state people becoming pension millionaires. It got me thinking about my own situation, so I went back and added up my own gross pay as shown on my annual Social Security statement, and it turns out that I am a WORKING millionaire! I broke the million-dollar mark last year. Not bad for someone who has worked for both newspapers and the state. And it took me only 33 years to do it. Has anyone seen my yacht? I forgot where I parked it.
- Speaking of Social Security - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 1:56 pm:
Hugh Hefner gets $1986/mo from SS, while still drawing a ($1.4M/yr) salary from his publication.
- Speaking of Social Security - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 2:01 pm:
And what’s with the CST charging for public information? SERS didn’t give that to them so they could make a buck on it!!!!
‘Transparency’ my foot!
- moron - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 2:29 pm:
Well, a govt doc acquired under FOIA is in the public domain and can be used for literally any purpose, incl. re-publishing for profit.
- moron - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 2:30 pm:
the Trib slaps ads around their data
- moron - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 2:39 pm:
somebody pop for the $1.99 and query James Phillip for me, will ya?
- Anon - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 2:48 pm:
In a few years the only expenses the state will have are pensions and medicaid. But will still have to fund basic services.
Good luck avoiding a massive tax increase. As Rich pointed out. there is absolutely no hope of changing the pension system. So grin and bear it.
- Retired Myself - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 2:59 pm:
My wife will retire next year after 36 years as a teacher . her pension will be $54,000/ yr, please don’t tell me that is excessive ,I think not , she put in 9 % a year of her salary for this, and she will pay $500 a month for her health insurance , and in about 18 years she also will be a millionaire.
- moron - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 3:12 pm:
Ralph Capparelli would be another fun one
- zatoichi - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 3:17 pm:
Using the ST rationale the state is packed with millionaires everywhere. Making $10 an hour? IN 48 years you are there. Making $20? You are a whale in 24 years. Doing $30? Just 16 years and you are set. Should be no problem hitting that 7% high income progressive tax bracket with everyone. They can all afford it.
- Conservative Veteran - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 3:19 pm:
When someone retires from the military, he or she receives a pension that is 50% of his or her average salary of the previous three years. Many veterans leave their families for months at a time and risk their lives for our country. Their pension is worse than the pensions of state government employees haven’t performed any dangerous work.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 3:46 pm:
CV,
Monetarily, you may be correct in some instances, but most state workers and teachers do not get a 50% pension after 20 years of service as the military do. This is not to diminish the contribution to society made by those who serve.
- reformer - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 5:03 pm:
Moron: Pate gets $119,347 a year.
- Amalia - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 6:12 pm:
when the Sun Times does the story on the City of Chicago, i’ll be interested. retire from the Chicago Police Department? go on to a big executive salary with the City in other parts and
keep your pension. not cool.
- Emily Booth - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 6:32 pm:
Our pension formula was improved 11 years ago because of AFSCME, the best thing they’ve ever done.
Under the Rule of 85, we can retire at 50% of our salary (the highest 4 yrs of the previous 10). Before 1998, our pensions were at 30% of our salary.
- Bookworm - Friday, Sep 11, 09 @ 7:56 pm:
The average state employee pension is around $20K. At that rate, workers who retire at 65 will have to live to be 115, like the world’s oldest woman who just died, to collect their “million.”
- Ebcdic - Saturday, Sep 12, 09 @ 8:54 am:
The Sun-Times article “INVESTIGATION” was extremely misleading. #1 they are elected officals, Judges, and Illinois General Assembly members not “State Employees”. #2 As Mr. Miller points out they receive special bonuses which State employees do not nor never received. The Average State Employee pension is only $1,800 a month. The IGA members can retire with greater that maxium pay in 20 years while the State Employee must work 44 years and 10 months to get their full pension of 75%. Why get people irrate at the wrong group? I was at a party a few days ago and listened to a family member of a legislator who was saying that we shouldn’t worry about the IGA benefits because there are only about 200 of them. The idiot didn’t stop to consider all the IGA,Judges etc. that are retired and getting these benefits. The IGA/Judges have their own fully funded retirement system while the State Employees has not been payed into for years.
- longwalksinparis.blogspot.com - Saturday, Sep 12, 09 @ 10:05 am:
Like the hypocrites they are GOP pols cry socialism while they are getting rich from it. The average state worker pension is around 20k - hardly a fortune.
Millionaire “Little Miss Frugal” JBT should just give back. Millionaire Jim Thompson should just give it back. Millionaire Pate should just give back. End socialism for wealthy ALL GOP pols now, thank you Sun Times.
- longwalksinparis.blogspot.com - Saturday, Sep 12, 09 @ 10:19 am:
The the future pension system should be capped at $55,000(current median income)for newbies. All current pols should be shamed into pledging never to take more than this at retirement. Policemen, firemen, and school teachers ARE NOT THE PROBLEM ! Working people ARE NOT THE PROBLEM !
- longwalksinparis.blogspot.com - Saturday, Sep 12, 09 @ 10:37 am:
Conservative Veteran with all due respect police, firemen, emt’s, cab drivers, 7-11 workers, construction workers, et al put there life on the line eveyday. The sacrifice of our soldiers should not diminish the dangers others face.
- Tim Thomas - Saturday, Sep 12, 09 @ 7:36 pm:
This story is an adage to figures lie and liars figure.
The article states that $800,000,000 per month is spent on pensions. That is about $9.6 Billion annually. The article also states that there are about 371,000 retirees and survivors. The straight math then would yield an average pension of $25,000 per person per year.
Yes, there are some whales in the system, but the ST would have the lowly teacher, garbage truck driver, file clerk, etc. all thrown out with the bath water.