Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Retirement
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-23-2011, 09:57 AM
 
Location: New York
1 posts, read 10,411 times
Reputation: 22

Advertisements

Is this true?

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 pay at retirement. While Politicians, who hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, receive full pay retirement after serving ONE term. It just does not make any sense.


Monday they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-23-2011, 10:46 AM
 
5,730 posts, read 10,128,682 times
Reputation: 8052
...my advice to you is NOT to look at those of us who are medically discharged/retired!!!!!!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2011, 11:17 AM
 
Location: Central Maine
4,697 posts, read 6,449,100 times
Reputation: 5047
Quote:
Originally Posted by justice for all View Post
Is this true?

.....

While Politicians, who hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, receive full pay retirement after serving ONE term. It just does not make any sense.
I haven't had a chance to look at military retirements, but the statement you made above is most definitely NOT true.

For factual information, see:

US Congress Salaries and Benefits – Salaries and Benefits of US Congress Members

http://www.senate.gov/reference/reso...df/RL30631.pdf

In federal service, when you hear the phrase "full retirement benefit" or similar words, that refers to the full pension a federal retiree will receive based on factors like age, length of service, and salary.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2011, 11:26 AM
 
Location: Central Maine
4,697 posts, read 6,449,100 times
Reputation: 5047
Quote:
Originally Posted by justice for all View Post
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 pay at retirement.
The short answer: That's the way military retirement works.

The long answer:

Yes, if you serve in the military for 20 years and retire at that point, you receive 50% of your basic pay as a pension. There is no age requirement, so that you can retire when you're still in your 30's, get the 50%, and start a second career. Or, you can go for a 40-year military career, and be eligible for 100%.

See:

The Military Retirement System - Military Benefits - Military.com
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2011, 11:31 AM
 
Location: Sequim, WA
801 posts, read 2,212,778 times
Reputation: 941
I'm not one to defend members of congress...as I am pretty much fed up with the whole group. But, members of congress are provided the same retirement benefits other federal workers are. That is, they have to meet the same age requirements and length of service. So...without federal service, anyone serving in the house of representatives for one term would not meet requirements.

Let's say you had a one-term senator...who served six years and was age 62 when he or she finished that term. That senator would quality for retirement. The annual annuity would be the average salary of the highest 3-year period times .017 times the years of service. This is assuming we are talking about any senator elected since 1984...on the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Assuming the average pay was the present figure of $174k per year, with six years of service, that would yield a retirement $17,748 per year. My guess is that those senators will make a lot more money doing something else.

Here is a link to this information.
http://www.senate.gov/reference/reso...df/RL30631.pdf
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2011, 03:02 PM
 
Location: East Coast
2,932 posts, read 5,422,501 times
Reputation: 4456
Quote:
Originally Posted by justice for all View Post
Monday they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans.
Did you receive this little tidbit in an email by any chance? My advice...check this stuff out at the Urban Legends website:

Quote:
Claim: All congressional staffers and family members are exempt from repaying their student loans.

*FALSE
snopes.com: Are Congressional Staffers and Family Members Exempt from Repaying Student Loans?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2011, 03:51 PM
 
5,139 posts, read 8,850,891 times
Reputation: 5258
Is that 50% pay benefit automatically transferred to one's widow after death?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2011, 04:04 PM
 
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
17,531 posts, read 24,701,378 times
Reputation: 9980
Quote:
Originally Posted by justice for all View Post
Is this true?

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 pay at retirement. While Politicians, who hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, receive full pay retirement after serving ONE term. It just does not make any sense.


Monday they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans.
Not completely, if you are too disabled to complete 20 years you get a percentage of a percentage, probably under $1,000 a month. You don't get to collect it either. They deduct anything you get from the VA from that so you probably get nothing for being crippled in the military. Senator Reid tried to correct this four times last year but was voted down by the GOP (supporting the Troops).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2011, 05:50 PM
 
5,730 posts, read 10,128,682 times
Reputation: 8052
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boompa View Post
Not completely, if you are too disabled to complete 20 years you get a percentage of a percentage, probably under $1,000 a month. You don't get to collect it either. They deduct anything you get from the VA from that so you probably get nothing for being crippled in the military. Senator Reid tried to correct this four times last year but was voted down by the GOP (supporting the Troops).

Yep. I'm Medically retired.

I have a feet injury (With orthodics and Narcodics I can stand up 3-3.5 hours)

+ a neck injury.


It's worth just over $400


-That's about my monthly medical bills using tricare...


(ETA: That's not counting the VA, but believe it, it isn't much)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2011, 06:18 PM
 
Location: Wisconsin
25,580 posts, read 56,488,147 times
Reputation: 23386
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrgoodwx View Post
Let's say you had a one-term senator...who served six years and was age 62 when he or she finished that term. That senator would quality for retirement. The annual annuity would be the average salary of the highest 3-year period times .017 times the years of service. This is assuming we are talking about any senator elected since 1984...on the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Assuming the average pay was the present figure of $174k per year, with six years of service, that would yield a retirement $17,748 per year. My guess is that those senators will make a lot more money doing something else.
$18K for life with a Cola after only six years!!
I think this is an OUTRAGEOUS number for six years in Congress.

Military is worth that and more. Congress - never.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Retirement

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top