Hi all, I am constantly struggling over this issue and am not sure what to do. I currently work for the CA state gov with a salary of 75k that will increase by about 5-7k every year until 120k (this will be adjusted by COLA as time goes on). They offer a good pension and benefits, I could potentially retire at 52, live off my 457 for 10 years, and then take then pension for 50% for the rest of my life. Or work longer until 62 and take closer to 100%. My city is not crazy expensive, I can certainly live on this and I am still in my 20's so have plenty of time to save.
One super important thing to note is that I am type 1 diabetic, so I do rely on daily medicine to live.
The issue I have is that basically there are two camps pulling on me. All the older individuals I know tell me that "I have it made" with this pension program. The other camp is all my tech friends who are making 150k+ at big companies and are still young with room to climb.
Do any older individuals with more perspective or life experience have any advice for this situation? Part of me wants to go work somewhere "sexier" and make a bigger salary, but is the pension really that awesome? Will I regret later in life if I don't have the pension to fall back on, even if I save very well with a bigger salary? All the adults I know practically tell me I would be dumb to leave the pension behind.
As a final note, I truly believe I will achieve my goals on either path. I know that there are ways to optimize savings to achieve FIRE and what not, but what I am really looking for in this post is some LIFE advice. When I am older, am I likely to regret leaving a pension on the table? Am I going to regret leaving a higher salary on the table?
Edit for some helpful info:
Am in mid 20's, work as a programmer
Submitted March 25, 2021 at 06:48PM by ThrowMeAwayPlease44 https://ift.tt/31gy4xU
