It's Time for Every Smart Kid to Consider a Career in the State Police or at UMass

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Attention parents of college-age children! 
Stop worrying about giving the right career advice to your kids, and simply direct them to the recent Boston Business Journal blog post by Craig Douglas, the publication’s managing editor for online vertical products and research.  (Being an old guy, I have no idea what Douglas’s title means.)
Headlined “State pays out $100k-plus pensions to over 200 retirees,” the post can be found at: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass_roundup/2012/09/state-pays-out-100k-plus-pensions-to.html

It’s rare the child who takes the long view of his career, and who has the perspicacity to contemplate how much dough he’ll need four decades hence to enjoy his golden years like some kind of British lord.
But if you happen to be the proud progenitor of such a child, and that child asks you earnestly one day, “Daddy, what can I do to improve my odds of a comfy retirement,” do not hesitate to respond, “Son, getting on the state payroll is never a bad bet.”   
In support of that advice, refer enthusiastically to “State pays out $100k-plus pensions to over 200 retirees,” which is filled with the names of retired state police officers, college presidents and administrators, and judges, all of whom are listed along with the pension amounts they receive monthly and annually.
Of course, there are many thousands of state retirees and most of them don’t come close to winning the kind of pension bonanzas that allow for the upkeep of two residences – a house in Massachusetts and a seaside condo, say, in Florida -- luxurious travel to foreign countries, and crazy gifts for the grandchildren.  (“I just knew you wanted your own horse, Olivia.”) 
The Douglas post points out that the average public pension in Massachusetts is around $26,000 a year.  Two thousand bucks a month doesn't go very far.
And there’s always the chance the gravy train will end one day in the foreseeable future for the pension high-enders of Massachusetts, as I, a person who has to look up the spelling of “actuary” before writing it, dared to hypothesize in an August 10, 2012, blog post headlined, “Won’t Happen Tomorrow, But the Six-Figure Public Pension Is Headed for Extinction.”
In the meantime, kids, get yourselves some applications to the State Police.





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