New Officers will make more money

Thanks to Governor Scotts new pension plan, starting hires will make $2000 more a year. Why?

Employees currently in the system will have 5% of their salaries removed from their paychecks and put in the FRS to plug the gap of money that Rick Scott is taking out to distribute to his rich buddies. It is MANDATORY and is going to happen.

New hires are being "offered" a 401K plan. It is not mandatory. In fact, if the employee chooses not to participate, then it saves the state money because they do not have to pony up a matching amount.

A current Officer with as much as 10 years on will have their salary decreased to $31,000. A new hire starts out at $33,000 if they opt out of the 401K.

You are an idiot

Not to much thought put into the assessment. Although none of us are going to support any type of defined contribution plans, to say that an Officer is gaining anything by opting out of a retirement plan is crazy talk. Evey cent, and every year contributed to any retirement plan is worth far more than the benefit of a little extra in the paychecks.

I made a stupid move a few years back, after contributing to a 401k for almost 5 years and accumulating a total of about $35k. I decided to cash it in due to massing bills during a lay-off. It sure made things easier to swallow, I ended up getting around $18k, Sure..I saved my credit, it even helped unemployment checks seem that much sweeter, but..I am still kicking myself every time I think about now, when I add up the lost interests, and the added years till retirement. By now that $35k would have been somewhere around $50k even at a modest 4% return. I cannot stress enough, invest, save, and opt in for any additional retirement plans that are ever offered through out your career, and never...NEVER..mess with it. Even at the ripe age of 18, the earlier the better. The years flow by ever so quickly before you know you will be playing catch up.

I know this was a little off topic, but I just find myself scrambling more and more everyday to build up my nest egg, and it seemed like a decent topic to point out. Good Luck everyone and be safe.