R.I.P. D2 football in California Across the continent we had an interring system going at NC State. Some employees would retire after 5 years and get medical coverage for life (0 premium). I know at least 2 young guys who “retired” from NC State after 5 years. The university finally got some actuarial sense and increased that to something lime 15-20 years. I came into the University system later in life so just went with 401b 457, etc. that turned out to be a wise choice. I had colleagues who were on federal retirement systems (federal research was the system) and retired at full salary. It got to be so i work or retire with the same salary. A pretty easy choice. And their salaries were quite good (maybe not up to Bay Area standards).
I do know that CSU faculty salaries are an issue (don’t know about retirement).