Take a look at the packages your leaders in Washington are getting.
House and Senate rank-and-file members earn $174,000.
House and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders earn $193,400.
The Speaker of the House, a.k.a Nancy-the-Terrible, earns $223,500.
Additionally, the Social Security Amendments of 1983 required all Members of Congress to participate in Social Security beginning January 1, 1984. As Social Security and CSRS benefits (the old civil service pension) sometimes overlapped, Congress called for the development of a new federal employee retirement program to complement Social Security. This new plan was enacted as the Federal Employees' Retirement Act of 1986. This act created the FERS program, under which new Members of Congress are currently covered and older members could elect to join.
Here's the core of it:
A full pension is available to Members 62 years of age with 5 years of service; 50 years or older with 20 years of service; or 25 years of service at any age.
Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3 percent of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2 percent of their salary in Social Security taxes.
The pension amount is determined by a formula that takes into account the years served and the average pay for the top three years in terms of payment. Based on 2002 data from the Congressional Research Service, the average pension payment ranged from $41,000 to $55,000. For example, a Congressman who worked for 22 years and had a top three-year average salary of $153,900 would be eligible for a pension payment of $84,645 per year. (By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.)
And, by the way, a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it.
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