And, that pension probably includes “cost of living” increases every year, which, over time, can give the recipient more money than he/she made on the job. Private pensioners do not get that cost of living increase and it should be stopped for public employees.
These deals are crippling the states that made them; they can no longer compete with other states that don’t have this albatross around their necks. For this reason, the northeast & California have grim years ahead, as both businesses and individuals look for places without these “fixed costs” to deal with. The taxes to pay for the goodies are simply too much, and nobody wants to pay for services rendered 20 years before (on top of those same services performed by current employees, feathering their nest eggs with the same deals). As the current services are cut, a “third worldness” creeps in (unfilled potholes, less police/fire protection, garbage collection, etc.). Not a magnet for business (see Detroit)...