[WalterBright]

It's nuts that people can retire with full pensions after working for 30 years. A more appropriate number would be 45.

[mplanchard]

Why? The average life expectancy is ~76 for men, ~81 for women. You’re saying you shouldn’t be able to pull a full pension unless you have devoted ~half of your entire life to a company?

45 years doesn’t even seem feasible if you want to retire at 65, since most people graduate college at around 22. Add in a masters or a doctorate and 45 years of work would bring you into your 70s.

[WalterBright]

A pension is for when you're too old to work. Of course, you can always save/invest your earnings and then retire when you have enough.