Green Retirement

California Governor Schwarznegger told 2,000 state workers to say hasta la vista to their jobs this past week.  In addition to laying off workers, California State and local governments have begun placing thousands of workers on furloughs, giving them unpaid days off in an attempt to balance their budgets.  The University of California voted to cut the pay of their workers and raise student tuitions.

Unemployment in California has reached 11.2%, the highest amount since the great depression, and it is only going to get worse as more government employees lose their jobs and their pay.   California state and local governments are shooting themselves in the foot when they layoff their workers and cut their pay.  They are creating a negative feedback loop that will only make the situation worse.

Governor Schwarznegger likes to talk Green, about how California is a leader in reducing climate change, the budget crisis is his opportunity to walk the walk.

Instead of firing workers - California should be retiring workers.  An unknown, but perhaps significant percentage, of the 244,000 California state employees are in a financial position to retire.  California should be offering it’s employees an early retirement health care incentive package.  If 5% of employees accept the offer, it would reduce the state’s workforce by 12,000 employees, avoiding the need and the negative impact of layoffs.

Green Retirement enables individuals to retire with less savings and many years earlier, by calculating the positive financial benefit, living a green lifestyle has on their retirement savings needs.  Using the free retirement calculator, California State workers can immediately see, if they have enough savings to retire.  And, unlike traditional retirement planning, Green Retirement enables individuals to control their retirement savings needs.  Workers can reduce the amount of savings they need to retire by reducing the amount they will spend in retirement.

If you are one of the thousands of California State employees who has already been laid off, take a look at Green Retirement’s free retirement planning resources, to see how you can stop looking for a job and retire.  If you are a current California State employee, and you are worried about being laid-off, contact your H.R. manager or union rep. and let them know about Green Retirement’s free layoff prevention tool.

California State layoffs do not need to occur, their is an alternative, early retirement by going green.