Nurses at UC Davis almost never leave before they retire. It is not about job security or loyalty. It is about a pension so good that even the top-paying hospitals can’t match it.
Once you see the numbers, you might rethink where you want to work.
These numbers are from March 2025, when this was first written. Pay and pension rules can change, so check current rates in Map My Pay.
How the UC pension works
UC Davis and the whole UC system give nurses a guaranteed pension. That means it is not tied to how the stock market does.
Your pension is based on three things:
- Your highest average salary
- How long you’ve worked for UC
- Your age when you retire
UC nurses put part of their pay toward the pension. UC matches those payments, which is basically free money going into your retirement.
Say you are 40 years old and make $160,692 a year. You work at UC for 25 years and get a 2.5% raise each year. At 65, your pension would be $15,433.27 a month, or $185,199.30 a year.
That is $15,433 a month in retirement. It is more than many full-time nurses make while they are still working.
How the Kaiser pension compares
Kaiser also has a pension, but it is not as generous.
Kaiser’s multiplier is 1.45% of your final salary for each year you work. At UC it is 2.5%. Over a long career, that gap adds up fast.
Say you work at Kaiser with a salary of $214,756. You retire at 65 after 25 years. Your pension would be $12,027.34 a month, or $144,328.06 a year.
That is still a solid pension, but it is nearly $40,000 a year less than the UC pension. That is like giving up a luxury vacation every year for the rest of your life.
What early retirement costs you at Kaiser
This is where it gets rough. If you retire at Kaiser before 65, your pension drops 5% for every year you are short. Retire at 55 and you lose up to 50% of it.
Here is what happens if you work at Kaiser for just 5 years.
After 5 years, your pension would be $12,304.06 a year if you wait until 65. Retire at 55 and you lose half. That leaves you $6,152.03 a year, or $512.67 a month.
That $512 a month barely covers gas and groceries.
It gets worse. If you leave Kaiser before you hit 5 years of service, you get no pension at all.
At UC, the cut for early retirement is much smaller. Your pension still goes down if you retire at 55, but not nearly as much as at Kaiser. UC nurses also keep their health benefits in retirement.
Why UC nurses stay until they retire
It comes down to four things:
- A higher pension multiplier
- Better early retirement options
- Free health benefits in retirement
- A pension that’s nearly double what Kaiser offers
After 25 years, UC nurses are looking at almost $200,000 a year in retirement income. No wonder they stay.
What this means for you
Maybe you are picking where to work. Maybe you already work at a UC hospital. Either way, this should help you plan.
- Kaiser is great for short-term pay. UC is better for long-term security.
- Retiring early at Kaiser could cost you half your pension.
- UC nurses retire with free healthcare and a six-figure pension.
A pension is only one part of the picture, though. I ran the numbers again after a viewer pointed out what happens when a Kaiser nurse invests the extra salary. You can read that in how nurses build wealth beyond the pension.
To run your own numbers, try the UC vs Kaiser pension calculator. For the bigger question of whether a pension is worth chasing at all, read is a nursing pension worth it.
Watch the breakdown
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Written by Jason, RN. I went from $37 an hour in New York to $143 an hour in California and paid off $128K of debt in under a year. I share our numbers in the Nurses to Riches newsletter and on YouTube.