[Publib] Public sector advantages

[Backwage at aol.com]

Why you should work in the public sector:
 
If any of you were wondering why or whether you should work in the public  
sector, and might have been put off by the lower wages, give this a think:
 
I work in the private sector now, and have mostly for much of my work  life.  
Because of job shifts, I have seldom qualified for retirement  benefits where 
I've worked; on the other hand, I have a good bit of money into  tax-free 
bonds here in California.  Apart from that I have a small  retirement amount 
coming from my federal government service.  
 
As for the folks who qualified for the private sector retirements at the  
places I've worked--they're in the dumpster now.  Plenty of old friends  tell me 
that their retirement stock funds and company 401k stocks are  practically 
worth nothing.  One friend of mine just hit sixty and has seen  his 
"conservative" private stock portfolio go to 15% of contribution  value.  My wife's 
retirement funds, representing two decades of work in big  banks, are at about 20%.  
Bank of America, which was nearly at $55, is now  a tad over $7.  Try retiring 
on that.
 
Many folks tell me that their private sector retirement stock funds and/or  
stock holdings are so low as to be negligible, after years of  contributions.  
Over the years these folks pitied me; they said that it was  a shame I 
wouldn't jump on the bandwagon and get in on all those fantastic stock  deals that 
were going up, and would, likely forever.
 
Funny that I don't hear many people talk about the magic of the marketplace  
anymore.  Unless it is the ability of private markets to make money  disappear 
overnight.  
 
Now, what would be the advantage of public sector employment for the  
librarian?  Well, the retirements are very well managed in most  cases.  They are 
diversified, often insured, and extremely well  supervised.  All of which means 
that, in a downturn, you probably won't  lose your shirt or find yourself using 
the curbstone for a pillow when your  working days are over.
 
M. 
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