Gov. Ron DeSantis has been calling for the elimination of congressional pensions for years and recently renewed his stance in a Facebook post. It is an excellent idea.
DeSantis is a former congressman and he doesn’t just talk. He declined to accept a pension. Furthermore, he sponsored bills in 2015 and 2017 to end defined-benefit pensions for future and non-vested members.
Congressional pensions are generous but not as generous as a meme that keeps popping up in Facebook suggests. It says all members get 100 percent of their pay for life after serving one term.
By law, the starting annual pension cannot exceed 80% of the member’s final salary and to be eligible for a pension Lawmakers must complete at least five years of service.
This makes them eligible for pensions at age 62, age 50 with 20 or more years of service or any age with 25 or more years of service.
Like other federal workers, congressional retirement consists of three parts:
- The Defined Benefit (FERS Annuity): The pension described above, funded by mandatory payroll contributions (ranging from 1.3% to 4.4% of pay depending on when they were first elected).
- Social Security: Members pay standard Social Security taxes and receive standard benefits.
- Thrift Savings Plan (TSP): A 401(k)-style investment plan where lawmakers can contribute and receive matching contributions up to 5% from the federal government.
Members who served before 1984 were covered under the older Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), which offered higher pension accrual rates but did not include Social Security.
Retirement benefits for former members of Congress totaled more than $38 million in 2022, according to Congressional Research Services. The average annual annuity received under FERS was $45,276. CSRS had 261 enrollees in 2022 who received an average check of $84,504.
The best reason for revoking pensions is that service in Congress is supposed to be a part-time job, not a lifetime occupation. Being part-time implies the member has a full-time job, presumably with a pension. Also, the additional income from Congress should enable him to save more of his own money for retirement.
