[784caroline]

The OP (RcMoser) is entirely wrong with his facts. Just check out Snopes and this site Do Congressmen Pay For Their Healthcare? | House Democrats Congressman pay for their health care the same way all federal employees do. The Govt Contributes 40% and the employee pays 60%. The one benefit Congressman do get is access to Walter Reed medical Center. Also congressmen staff are different than the average Fed Employee when it come s to retirement benefits. Their computation rate is a striaght 2% of high 3 years of pay X the number of years of federal service...whereas the avergae joe retiring under Civil service (...Not FERS since 1984) is 1.5 X 3 years 1.75 X 4-15 years; and 2% for all time after 15 years multiplied by the avg top 3 years of salary. If you retire under CSRS you get NO Social Security.

In retirement, to reach 80% of top 3 years of salary the average Civil servant (under CSRS) would have to have approx 42 years of federal service.

[twinklesweep]

Why are working people attacking other working people? Is this being fomented in some subtle way, kind of along the lines of "divide and conquer"? Ultimately most of us are in the same boat, no matter what the simplicity or complexity of our jobs was and how much retirement income we receive....

For those who are fortunate enough to have pensions, we are probably the last generation to do so; by the time our children—and for sure our grandchildren—reach retirement age, "pension" will be an alien word!

We're here now; let's make the most of it while being supportive of others!

[Monkei]

There is a segment who love to attack those whom they believe are getting more than they deserve from the government. That includes hard working federal retires.

[gomoho]

[QUOTE If you retire under CSRS you get NO Social Security.[/QUOTE]

Nor do you pay into it.

[Monkei]

Originally Posted by gomoho

[QUOTE If you retire under CSRS you get NO Social Security.

Nor do you pay into it.[/QUOTE]

that i correct I am FERS and my wife is CSRS ... She gets none and she did not pay into it.

[Topspinmo]

"The OP (RcMoser) is entirely wrong with his facts." NO not on everything read you won't statement..I don't thing so walter reed is free for them. I have nowhere I can go for free even though I'm 20 year veteran. ONLY disabled Veterans get free health care at VA. they (the LAW MAKERs get 16000 mouth paid for life. their percentage from their pay is far less do to the make more and pay the same rate as I.... I get 1.1% at 20 year mark. You said it yourself STAFF they get striaght 2% early age retirement I think? . CSRS is just about gone hardly any people left on they system... IT is FERS now. Which is at least 2/3 less than CSRS year for year.

[Monkei]

Originally Posted by Rc Moser

"The OP (RcMoser) is entirely wrong with his facts." NO not on everything read you won't statement..I don't thing so walter reed is free for them. I have nowhere I can go for free even though I'm 20 year veteran. ONLY disabled Veterans get free health care at VA. they (the LAW MAKERs get 16000 mouth paid for life. their percentage from their pay is far less do to the make more and pay the same rate as I.... I get 1.1% at 20 year mark. You said it yourself STAFF they get striaght 2% early age retirement I think? . CSRS is just about gone hardly any people left on they system... IT is FERS now. Which is at least 2/3 less than CSRS year for year.

There are r were some advantages to FERS although I did not have a choice when I started working. With FERS I am collecting SSN now even though I was 57 when I retired. They don't call it SSN but it pays me SSN until my regular SSN starts. I think it is no longer in place but I believe it put in to urge people to start retiring earlier.

[gomoho]

Originally Posted by Monkei

Nor do you pay into it.

that i correct I am FERS and my wife is CSRS ... She gets none and she did not pay into it.[/QUOTE]

Now I understand what's going on.

[buggyone]

Originally Posted by gomoho

that i correct I am FERS and my wife is CSRS ... She gets none and she did not pay into it.

Now I understand what's going on.[/QUOTE]

Remember that we paid 7.3 percent of our salary into CSRS. It was not a free ride.

I thought the military got 50 percent of their pay at 20 years or 75 percent at 30 years for retirement.

[Topspinmo]

IMO seen from the inside! Neither is FERS Two part retirement system Thrift we have to match up to 5% to get full 5% the Gov adds. With FERS and SS it's still falls about short of CSRS.. Then you say we got Thrift Saving if you can afford to invest in it. If not you get nothing from it. Military does get 50% at 20. Was good back in the day when you got free health care at any military facility. Tri-care prime (going up like every other health insurance) Life Insurance, Survisor's benefits comes out of that. Then, there is the divorce rate which usually higher than Civilain world ex-Wife get's half in she's put up with it for 10 years or more. Enlisted are the bottom feeders when it comes to Government Benifits. Even up to the rank of E7 that don't go to far after deductions and remember most military has mandatory moved average 4 times or more thorough their career and Most just brought house after they retired. Some in certain career fields was able to homestead on base for 20 years and have house paid for, most don't have that luxury. IMO Not as Rosie as most think at the end of the day. Especially now days military gets little respect from our civilian counterpart, but they sure do like the free choices they get don't they.

[784caroline]

Originally Posted by Rc Moser

"The OP (RcMoser) is entirely wrong with his facts." NO not on everything read you won't statement..I don't thing so walter reed is free for them. I have nowhere I can go for free even though I'm 20 year veteran. ONLY disabled Veterans get free health care at VA. they (the LAW MAKERs get 16000 mouth paid for life. their percentage from their pay is far less do to the make more and pay the same rate as I.... I get 1.1% at 20 year mark. You said it yourself STAFF they get striaght 2% early age retirement I think? . CSRS is just about gone hardly any people left on they system... IT is FERS now. Which is at least 2/3 less than CSRS year for year.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Where are you getting your information from. I said a Congressmen has access to Walter Reed hospital..I did not say it was free..I am not certain it is. I do know certain Govt Civilians overseas have access to military care/ hospitals and it is not free, you use your health insurance to reimburse the military and most likely it is the same way with congressmen using Walter Reed..and Congressmen pay for their health care. Following your rationale what happens if/when a congressmen gets sick in their home district or their family members need health care..they use their health insurance just like you or i buy.

Where are you getting congressmen get 16000/month for life???? As quoted from Wikipedia Congressional pension - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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. For example, a member elected before 1984 and thus qualifying under the CSRS plan, who worked for 22 years and who had a top three-year average salary of $153,900 would be eligible for a pension payment of $84,645 per year. A member elected after 1984 would have been enrolled under the FERS plan, and their pension payment under the same conditions ($153,900 top three-year average salary and 22 years of service[not in citation given]) would be $55,404.[not in citation given].[3]

Or from "CNN Money" Will your congressman retire richer than you? - Jul. 29, 2013
Based on current salaries, members of Congress who serve just five years are guaranteed annual pensions of more than $14,000 at age 62, according to current pension formulas. And those who serve 20 years or more can qualify for a pension of at least $59,000 as early as age 50. NOTE that was an ANNUAL pension of $16000 not monthly.

In 2011, 280 former lawmakers who retired under a former government pension system received average annual pensions of $70,620, according to a Congressional Research Service report. They averaged around 20 years of service. At the same time, another 215 retirees (elected in 1984 or later with an average of 15 years of service) received average annual checks of roughly $40,000 a year.

Look no one is saying that their benefits are not good..they are very good, but dont try and take someone down by using false or misleading statements.

[Topspinmo]

They should get SS like the rest of us "O" wait they do" add another 20K plus annually I for one don't believe Wiki and I sure don't believe the CNN. You could of provided wiki with information and now it the truth. CNN misleads all the time when it fits there agenda.

[buggyone]

Originally Posted by 784caroline

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Where are you getting your information from. I said a Congressmen has access to Walter Reed hospital..I did not say it was free..I am not certain it is. I do know certain Govt Civilians overseas have access to military care/ hospitals and it is not free, you use your health insurance to reimburse the military and most likely it is the same way with congressmen using Walter Reed..and Congressmen pay for their health care. Following your rationale what happens if/when a congressmen gets sick in their home district or their family members need health care..they use their health insurance just like you or i buy.

Where are you getting congressmen get 16000/month for life???? As quoted from Wikipedia Congressional pension - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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. For example, a member elected before 1984 and thus qualifying under the CSRS plan, who worked for 22 years and who had a top three-year average salary of $153,900 would be eligible for a pension payment of $84,645 per year. A member elected after 1984 would have been enrolled under the FERS plan, and their pension payment under the same conditions ($153,900 top three-year average salary and 22 years of service[not in citation given]) would be $55,404.[not in citation given].[3]

Or from "CNN Money" Will your congressman retire richer than you? - Jul. 29, 2013
Based on current salaries, members of Congress who serve just five years are guaranteed annual pensions of more than $14,000 at age 62, according to current pension formulas. And those who serve 20 years or more can qualify for a pension of at least $59,000 as early as age 50. NOTE that was an ANNUAL pension of $16000 not monthly.

In 2011, 280 former lawmakers who retired under a former government pension system received average annual pensions of $70,620, according to a Congressional Research Service report. They averaged around 20 years of service. At the same time, another 215 retirees (elected in 1984 or later with an average of 15 years of service) received average annual checks of roughly $40,000 a year.

Look no one is saying that their benefits are not good..they are very good, but dont try and take someone down by using false or misleading statements.

Excellent post. Thank you for looking all that material up. However, some people - as you can see - still do not believe in reality but just in what they want to be fact.

[Bavarian]

Welcome fellow retired Feds, We need to stick together to counter the misconceptions.
I get CSRS, no Social Security. A while back, we had to pay into Medicare and now will get that hopfully our FEHP health care continues. If we want Long term Care, Dental or Vision insurance, we pay 100%

If I work at another job under SS, my benefits are reduced by the Windfall Pension Exclusion, my spousal benefit from my wire's private sector work is reduced by the Government Pension Offset. A few retired high graders may get a total pension that you think is high, so would two private sectore high earners. And by what right does anyone have the right to cap pensions, or salaries? We pay a lot more income taxes so the money goes back.

When FERS came out twice we were pushed to change, no one I knew did and we all felt, if its pushed so much it can't be good for us.

We could put %5 with no match to TSP, only in Government bonds.

[Monkei]

I am proud to be a 37 year federal worker, my wife 36 year. We worked hard for our high GS ranking and when anyone gives us crap about federal workers we politely tell them that every business has workers who don't work hard but I had 12 employees and was happy with each one of them. They worked hard, endured half of the time on the road and were all happy to work for the government. Each one of them were Microsoft certified engineers and could have made a lot more money had they gone to any of our contractors, who were constantly pursuing them.