Looks like they make out OK.

But hey, they really earn their benefits.


How Congress Retirement Pay Compares to the Overall Average

With many Americans struggling to save for retirement and employee pension programs, both public and private, facing lots of uncomfortable realities, it's worth looking at what representatives and senators in the United States Congress receive.

Congressional members are eligible for their own unique pension plans under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), though there are other retirement benefits available, ranging from Social Security and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).

Additionally, members of Congress enjoy the same Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) as all other federal employees, which is similar to a 401(k). Taxpayer funds are used to match congressional contributions up to 5% per year, in addition to an extra 1% giveaway regardless of how much the Congressman contributes, if anything. Because members of Congress earn far more than the average American citizen, their initial Social Security benefits average more than $30,000 per year compared to just $18,000 for a middle-class retiree.

Few private employees can contribute to both an employer-sponsored defined benefit pension plan and a defined contribution plan. Most have the option to contribute to a 401(k) or 403(b), while others may contribute to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or some other retirement option. The median benefit for private pensions and annuities was approximately $10,000 per year in 2015. For those receiving Social Security and a private pension, median income was between $30,000 and $35,000 per year. As far as other retirement assets, research from the Federal Reserve in 2013 found that the median retirement account balance was $59,000 and the mean balance was $201,300.

Congress did not always receive a gold-plated pension. Before 1942, members of Congress did not receive a taxpayer-funded retirement plan and most of them spent the majority of their time away from Washington D.C. This early system was quickly scrapped after public outcry, however. A post-war pension was put into place after World War II and eventually replaced by FERS in the 1980s. The current Congressional pension system has not changed much since 2003, after which all incoming freshmen representatives and senators were no longer able to decline FERS.

Congress has not voted to increase its retirement benefits at all since the Great Recession. However, due to the struggles faced by most individual retirement plans and corporate pension programs, the Congressional retirement package did increase relative to the average American retirement plan.

There have been several motions, particularly from a few Senate Republicans, to cut higher pension contributions and change the health care benefits for federal employees since 2008. In 2015 and based on the recommendations of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, Senate budget committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) proposed a $170 billion cut over 10 years as part of a larger deficit reduction plan. This plan and subsequent measures received little support as of July 2016.

Last edited by Rongone (8/05/2016 2:16 pm)