The word of the day is “affordability,” the harsh reality that for too many Americans there’s more month than money, more bills than paycheck, and a future clouded by economic uncertainty.

To add insult to injury, Massachusetts taxpayers aren’t just covering their own costs, but shelling out for the bloated salaries of high-ranking public employees and their subsequent ballooning pensions.

As the Herald reported, pension payouts to state retirees, both educators and other public employees, have jumped almost 18% since the pandemic.

The state Comptroller reports $6.6 billion is now being paid to retirees annually. Among that tally are five top recipients who were paid $300,000-plus in 2025, records show.

“What this says is it’s pretty great for a few but not everybody,” said national pension watchdog Anthony Randazzo.

If Massachusetts is looking to change the state seal, “pretty great for a few but not everybody” would make a fitting motto.

Gov. Maura Healey and other state officials bemoan federal funding cuts for vital programs, but the cash keeps flowing to high-end public retirees, who see six-figure pensions mirror their big-bucks-at-taxpayers-expense careers.

As they say, must be nice.

For those in the private sector, pensions are a rarity. Only 15% of private industry workers had access to a defined benefit pension plan in March 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rest rely on what they can save in a 401 (k), if they can, and hold out hope that Social Security will cover a meaningful share of post-retirement expenses.

Those getting six-figure Mass. pension payouts aren’t putting off retirement until they’re 70, whether they want to or not, because of the increased Social Security benefits working until then will bring. And they don’t have to worry about the Social Security system itself falling off a cliff in the years ahead.

For them, taxpayers are the guardrail that keeps public pensions firmly on track.

In his organization’s annual report, Randazzo co-authors a warning that public pension plans are still in a “fragile financial condition.” That fact places Massachusetts 37th with $33.3 billion in unfunded liability, according to the Equable Institute, where Randazzo is the executive director.

Randazzo cautioned that Massachusetts is placing a burden on younger taxpayers to keep funding the pension system until it is paid off. The problem is, younger taxpayers (24-44) are the group with the highest rate of outmigration from the state, according to mass.gov.

Massachusetts lost 13,700 residents aged 25 to 34 in 2022 and in total nearly 24,000 prime working age adults. Housing prices are high, the cost of living is expensive, why should they want to take the fall for deep-pocketed public retirees?

This isn’t sustainable, no matter how much Massachusetts officials kick the can down the road.

We can’t be the state where it’s “pretty great for a few.”

Editorial cartoon by Al Goodwyn (Creators Syndicate)