What is pension spiking, and how is it costing the state of WA millions?

Companies have increasingly shifted the responsibility of saving for  retirement onto workers. Pension plans have mostly disappeared from the private sector, in favor of 401k style plans.

For example, the Boeing Machinist union tried unsuccessfully get their pension plan reinstated during last year’s strike.

For most public employees, including Washington state workers, though, Pensions are still an option.

But not all public pensions are created equal. Some allow workers to potentially increase their pension checks by logging a lot of overtime in their highest paid years.

The result is a big ongoing cost to the state of Washington. 

Seattle Times data reporter Manuel Villa combed through 20 years of payroll data on this practice by City of Seattle workers: specifically police and firefighters. 

GUEST: Manuel Villa - Seattle Times data reporter on the investigations team

RELATED LINKS:

• Inflated Seattle public pensions for retirees cost tens of millions
• How WA public pensions work: retirement funding, risks, ‘spiking’
• Try our WA public pension ‘spiking’ calculator | The Seattle Times

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