Number of State Retirees Fell by 7% Since Last Year, Data Show
Fewer state employees retired and applied for benefits under CalPERS during the first nine months of 2015, compared with the same time period last year, according to data from the pension fund, the Sacramento Bee's "The State Worker" reports (Ortiz, "The State Worker," Sacramento Bee, 12/7).
The health care costs for a 55-year-old California resident who retires is projected to be $5,854 in the first year and $239,526 over a lifetime, according to a recent analysis by HealthView Services (California Healthline, 8/6).
California has estimated that unfunded liability in state retiree health care programs over the next 30 years is about $72 billion (California Healthline, 5/15)
Details of Retirement Data
The data show that 5,610 state employees started drawing retirement benefits between January and September of this year, down 7% from 2014.
According to "The State Worker," some state employees likely have delayed retirement to incorporate recent and upcoming pay raises into their pensions.
However, the number of new retirees this year was higher than in 2013, when 5,207 state employees retired during the first nine months of the year ("The State Worker," Sacramento Bee, 12/7). The number of new retirees in 2015 was nearly 8% higher than in 2013 (CalPERS data, December 2015).
Meanwhile, more than 13,700 workers retired from school and special districts, local governments and regional government agencies - an increase of 3% from last year ("The State Worker," Sacramento Bee, 12/7).
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