Rick Perry is
being attacked for drawing a $92,000 annual retirement pension on top of his
annual salary of $133,000. Seems
hypocritical when the state is trying to cut expenses by reducing salaries and
benefits, reducing retirement pensions and increasing state employee payroll
contributions toward their health care insurance and retirement. Rick Perry says that he has earned his
retirement benefit through payroll contributions during his 25 years of public
service. He says he is withdrawing what
he contributed.
Sounds good
doesn’t it. But it’s not true. I calculated how much he has probably
contributed to his retirement and he doesn’t even get close to what he is and
will receive.
Assume that his
starting salary was $42,000 30 years before he started drawing his pension.
Assume that he
got a 4% raise each year to reach his current salary of $133,000 per year when
he started drawing his pension.
Assume that his
retirement savings earned 6% annually.
Assume that he
will draw a pension $92,000 per year, which he does.
If he only
contributed 6.5% of his annual salary to his retirement, his retirement savings
will be exhausted in less than 4 years.
Perry would have
had to contribute 37% of his annual salary to his retirement fund in order to
save enough to receive a pension of $92,000 per year for 30 years. If he only contributes 6.5% his retirement
savings at the time he starts drawing a pension will be SHORT
$1,450,000.
So, Rick Perry is
lying. He will have spent much more
than he has contributed to his retirement before he is old enough to qualify
for Medicare and Social Security. After
that Texas taxpayers will be paying for 100% of his retirement for the rest of
his life.
The same year that Perry started drawing his generous pension he cut education funding by $4 billion, plans to fire 43,000 teachers, eliminated scholarships for 29,000 low-income college students, reduced or eliminated financial assistance for 43,000 college students, eliminated the state’s medical primary care residency program and reduced funding for the family-practice residency by more than 70 percent. All this while Texas has the lowest percentage of adults with high school diplomas and the highest percentage of uninsured residents.
Rick Perry puts Rick Perry first.
