You asked for a description of pension benefits for members of Congress.

CONGRESSIONAL PENSIONS

Members of Congress are covered by the same retirement plans as other federal employees. These are the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) for employees hired or elected before 1984, and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) for those who began service in 1984 or later. (In 1984 members were allowed to remain with CSRS or switch to FERS. ) There are some differences in retirement age eligibility, years of service required, and contributions between federal employees and members of Congress. In particular, members who participate in CSRS contribute 8. 4% of salary towards their pensions, and FERS-covered members contribute 1. 3%. In contrast, most other federal civilian employees pay 7. 4% and 1. 2 %, respectively.

As of October 1, 1999 the average annual pension for former members under the CSRS plan was $ 51,660; for those under the FERS plan, it was $ 46,572, according to the Library of Congress. (Rank and file members currently earn $ 150,000 per year. ) Since 1962, pensions for all retired federal employees, including members of Congress, have been protected from inflation through periodic cost-of-living adjustments

(COLAs), determined by the Consumer Price Index. Retired members of Congress receive the same COLAs as other federal employees who retired under the same retirement system.

In addition, PL 98-21 required Social Security coverage for all federal employees, including members of Congress, who entered federal service after 1983. The law also required all incumbent members to be covered by Social Security regardless of when they entered Congress. Members have Social Security taxes withheld from their paychecks at the same rate (6. 2%) as other employees and are subject to the same benefit eligibility and payment formulas as other Social Security beneficiaries.

Further information about Congressional salaries and benefits is available from Thomas, the Library of Congress Website, http: //thomas. loc. gov/home/faqlist. html#sixteen, and from http: //usgovinfo. about. com/library/weekly/aa031200a. htm.

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