17
his salary^ his contributions on salary
in excess of $200 per month on a
comparable dollar basis will add ap
proximately 1 / 4th as much as his
salary not in excess of $200 per month.
As an example, an employe 3 5 years
of age has elected to pay on all of his
¿salary, which is $300 per month. Based
on the first $200 per month of such
■sglary, each' year of current service
will add approximately l’/^O th of half
pay or 1 /30th- of $100^ or $3.3,3. By
paying on the extra $100 of-his'salary,
he will add 1-/4 th more, or l/4 th of
$3.33, or 83_ cents.Thus, each year of
current service will add approximately
$4i.-l'6 to 'his monthly pension. If his
salary is only $250 per month, an
extra $50 would provide l / 2 -.of the
83 cents, or approximately 42 cents,
which/added to his $3,33 (produced
by his /contribution on the first $200
of salary) would make a total of $3.75
per mofrflpfor each year of current
service. I
Chart Difficult to Compile
"The difficulty in attempting to
wofk out a chart which would show
all of these things is the fact that while
the objective' of the act is to provide
any one with 30 years or more of cur
rent service with a pension amounting
to approximately half-pay, based on
salary not exceeding $200 per month,
the pension he will actually receive will
be based on the amount of money
standing to dais ’credit ph our books
when he reaches retirement age. Salary
changes, loss of time, and many other
factors will V,affect his final over-all
pension// I
Some Fears Assuaged
In commenting on some of the mis
understandings that .have arisen in ad
ministering the act, Mr. I SaylCr- com
ments on some ofthese matters as fol
lows; "A good' many people have ex
perienced concern' over the fact that
during the major portion of their lives
they may be employed at fairly decent
salaries hut for some reason or other
during the last few years of their ejna*
ployment their salaries would be con
siderably less. They fear that they may
be. retired on half of this lesser’ or
reduced salary. THIS IS N O T T H E
CASE, because the pension will be
based on the individual’s contributions
throughout the years which, most of
the time, were 'based on the larger
salary. On the other hand, one who
works most of his life at an average
salary and then during the last few-
. gears', f o r some reason or other, is em
ployed at a great deal higher salary,
will not be able to receive a s a pension
1/2 of the larger salary, since the
amount standing to his credit on our
books will haye been made up of his
contributions based largely on the
smal'ler- salary.”
Pensions Being Paid
It is reported that there are now
about tyro dozen disability cases who
are receiving disability benefits. By the
end of July there were about 640 em
ployees I receiving superannuation hre^r
tirement at age 6 5 / pensions. Mr. Say-
ler indicates that between now and
December 3d st-of this year there will
be approximately l,’500 more em
ployees eligibel for pension, making an
approximate total of 2150 that may be
drawing pensions by the end of the
year.
Regular Pay Days
The editor is ‘in receipt of a" letter
from a state employee in Eugene, in
which our remarks in earlier issues of
this magazine about "regular early pay
days” and "some improvement is
noted” are questioned. We quote parts
of the letter— "I have worked in thè'
field fo r a- good many years and I
haven’t seen any improvement yet. In
fact we have, once in a blue moon,
Received our checks as early, as | the
third of the month. From there on up
S late as the twenty-first. If this is
improvement, I hope we don’t get
much of it. W ith due apologies to the
gentleman who wrote | the article, I
would like to say he either has a poor
memory or else he never was in the'