To the spouter complaining about the public pension system: You

North Wildwood - To the spouter complaining about the public pension system: You are correct that the public employee deposits mandatory contribution into the pension system. What you are misunderstanding is how it is set up. Over the course of 30 years, the average NJ public employee contributes $137k into the system and retires before the age of 50. The public employee will receive more than $150K in retirement payments within three years after beginning to collect. The NJ taxpayer is stuck footing the bill at an average of $50K a year for the next 30 years, which is far more than eight percent a paycheck.