• Retired lawmakers don’t receive full pay as their pension, and in most cases they won’t be vested after serving just one term in office.
• The earliest any retired lawmaker could start receiving a pension is 50 years of age.
• Even for the longest-serving lawmakers, federal law caps pensions at 80% of full salary.
A specious claim that’s been making the rounds for about two decades has recently resurfaced: that members of Congress can receive a pension equal to their full pay after serving just one term.
But it’s no more accurate now than it ever was.
A Facebook post says, "No one has been able to explain to me why young men and women who serve in the U.S. Military for 20 years, risking their lives protecting freedom, … only get 50% of their base pay. While politicians hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, and receive full pay retirement after serving 1 term! Re-post if you believe this is absolutely WRONG."
The part about military pensions is somewhat accurate, but incomplete and outdated. However, the part about pensions for politicians — which we take to mean congressional pensions, since few executive branch politicians serve "terms" — is flat-out wrong.
Here, we’ll tackle both parts of the claim.
U.S. Marines near a military base in al-Hamra, United Arab Emirates, on March 23, 2020. (AP)
Military pensionsFor years, the Facebook post’s description of the military pension would have been in the ballpark.
If you joined the military before September 1980, you get 50% of your final base pay after 20 years of service, or 100% of base pay if you retire after 40 years.
If you joined between September 1980 and July 1986, you would be subject to the same percentages but a slightly different formula. Your pension would be based on the average of your three highest pay years, rather than your final base pay.
If you joined between August 1986 and December 2017, you could choose between the previous option or a plan under which you get a bonus on your 15th service anniversary in exchange for a lower retirement pay.
Under each of the systems above, a service member would qualify for a pension only after many years of service. Those with shorter military careers, who by some estimates account for about 80 percent of service members, would get no pension at all.
That changed under a new law that took effect in 2018. It governs pensions for individuals who entered the military starting that year.
Under this system, service members get pensions equivalent to 40% of their base pay after 20 years. But service members would also have a Thrift Savings Plan, which is similar to a 401(k), and after two years, the military would match contributions up to 5%. For the first time, service members will have a plan that can be rolled over after they leave the military, even if their departure comes just a few years after they sign up.
So the current military pension system is more complex than the Facebook post suggests, but the post does roughly reflect the system.
