PFC gets $1729.80 a month and this is NOT good wages if you are getting shot at. Sorry, buggyone, but that PFC today, the same as 40 years ago, with a family still qualifies for food stamps.

Another thing, military members have to spend 20 plus years to get a pension. Criminal "career politicans" only need to spend one term to get full pay pensions plus medical care.

Who do you want protecting you? Just wondering.

Figmo - assuming you're talking about Congress, it is no longer true that they get full pensions afterone term. In fact that hasn't been the case since the 1980s if I remember what I read the last time a list of Congress' excesses was making the rounds. (Among other things, they DO pay into Social Security and have sone so since around 1984).

Congress is now in the FERS system - which is the exact same system that I and my employer (the USAF) pay into.

from wikipedia.

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. In 2002, the average pension payment ranged from $41,000 to $55,000. For example, a member of Congress 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.[3]

This is to supplement social security.

So how long to they have to work before their vested in their pension?

FERS kind of has two parts. You have to have 20 years to get a pension from FERS (at least civilians do - I think some rules are different for active duty military) and the amount ends up being your number of years as a percentage (put in 22 years, you get 22%) of what your average base pay was for your final three years. Mind you, you get your BASE pay used - not any adjustments for location (i.e. I work in the Boston area so I get a 24% bump - San Francisco and New York, as example, are higher).

The second part is a 401K-like "TSP". Currently, I'm putting in 5% of my pay and the government is matching it (I get vested in either 1 or 3 years, I forget which). The primary difference between this and a 401K is that you only have a choice of a few index or bond funds to choose from.

One big change that happened some time ago but lives on in urban legends is that you can no longer use your accumulated sick time as a big retirement bonus. You lose your sick time at the end of your working days. HOWEVER - there is still one bonus. *If* you have enough sick time when you retire that using it would have bumped you across another 'year boundary', you can have your pension affected. In other words, if you worked those 22 years BUT had enough sick time that you COULD have made it to 23 years, you would get 23% instead of 22%.

djp....how much of what you are presenting applies to the 535 in the government?

I suspect like every other pyramid of organization, the lawmakers do in fact get much more coverage, legitimate and otherwise. These people don't take these jobs just because they are deicated to serve (:1rotfl::1rotfl:).

btk

From the sources I have, all of it applies. But, checking Wikipedia's entry on the subject, I can see where the confusion comes from.

It says that a 'full pension' is possible after 5 years (if the person is 62 or older, 20 years if they're 50+ and any age if they have 25+ years). This means they can get 5% of their salary - they're vested in the system and retire at 62 with 5 years. It's easy to see how someone can read "full pension" and think that they're getting their entire salary for the rest of their lives.

The switchover date from CERS to FERS was in 1987 (I thought it was 1984).

Now, as I understand it, they have a better health plan than I do - that would be one of the perks of being a legislooter over being a web programmer for the Air Force.

Will you still get your pension if you go to jail? Congress does. Lots of those laws you are reading do not pertain to congressional members. They exempted themselves and that information is really hard to find out about. But keep looking you will find it.

1) Yes, I will. Unless I break the law to the degree of a felony while in government service. If I leave and, years later, do something, it doesn't matter. There's a bill pending in Congress to expand the rules concerning denial of Congressional pensions. from the article I just read, only treason and a few other crimes can cause a legislooter to lose his/her pension.

2) I was a bit wrong about the calculations. Billthekid was on the right track. Congressional members and Congressional employees get 1.7% per year of Congressional service (not to exceed 20) PLUS 1% per year of other government service. Just as an FYI, Air Traffic Controllers, Firefighters, Law Enforcement Officers, Capitol Police, Supreme Court Police, or Nuclear Materials Couriers get 1.7% per year up to 20 years and 1% per year after that.

legislooter? Freudian slip? LMAO...what an appropriate label!

legislooter!!!! another new, APPROPRIATE word!!!!!

btk

I heard/came up with that term some years ago (can't remember which) and it seemed appropriate so I've been doing my part to widen it's usage :)