Average CalPERS Pension Up To 5 Times Greater Than Comparable Social Security Payouts

If you’ve heard CalPERS cite their average pension amount of $30,000 or so, you may think that is what the average full-career retiree receives. The average 2013 full-career (defined as 30 or more years of service) retiree received an actual benefit of approximately $64,000. This does not include the cost of medical benefits which can currently run $18,000 a year for the family plan.

If you were to adjust for the same set of variables (minimum years of service, final year’s pay) the average comparable CalPERS benefit dwarfs what Social Security offers:

You can read the full study at the California Policy Center’s website here.