As Congress transitioned to a new chapter, and defeated and retiring lawmakers moved on, National Taxpayers Union provided some pension estimates for a few of those departing Senators and Congressmen.
You can find articles in the New Orleans Times-Picayune and Omaha World-Herald covering many of these estimates.
Here's the rundown:
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA): Eligible for a $48,000 per year pension at age 62.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA): Just over $125,000.
Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA): Approximately $53,000 pension in 2015; COLAs would increase amount in subsequent years.
Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE): Just under $16,000 for his Congressional service.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE): $30,500 from Senate service.
Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE): Approximately $42,000 at age 62.
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI): $125,000 per year pension.
This not a comprehensive list or study, but provided as an update on the latest analysis for readers and our members.
*Notes:
Lawmakers with at least 10 years of service can collect a reduced pension prior to age 62. The age at which they can begin collecting that reduced amount depends upon the year in which they were born, but in no case is the age younger than 55.
Dingell and Harkin would likely be enrolled in the older pension plan, CSRS, which has a cap on the initial benefit equal to 80 percent of final salary (minus reductions for the spousal annuity). Lawmakers hit that cap at 32 years of service.
Additional disclaimer: First, we have no way of knowing if lawmakers began participating in the pension plans from the beginning of their careers. Participating in the system is voluntary for Members of Congress who were serving prior to September 30, 2003; we assume a lawmaker entered the system at the beginning of his or her service in Congress.
Second, we also assume that each lawmaker who is married took the spousal annuity option, which reduces the lawmaker's benefit while he or she is alive so that the spouse may collect a portion of the benefit after the lawmaker's death.
Third, lawmakers enrolled in both Congressional pension plans (CSRS and FERS) can participate in the federal Thrift Savings Plan, a defined contribution arrangement that works like a 401 (k) retirement system. However, only lawmakers enrolled in the newer pension plan, FERS, can also obtain a generous government match of their salary contributions (up to 5 percent). The contributions can then be invested (with some limitations) into several funds, including one linked to stocks. Given enough years of service, it is possible that lawmakers could have accumulated significant assets through the Thrift Savings Plan if they contributed the maximum possible amount of salary and made the best-performing investment decisions throughout their career. Here again, we can't be certain of the actual amount.
Members of Congress first elected before 1984 generally participate in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), while those first elected in 1984 and thereafter generally participate in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). There were two "open seasons" in which CSRS lawmakers could have switched into FERS, but few of them did. Congressional pensions are typically 2-3 times more generous than those offered to similarly-salaried workers in the private sector, and are even more generous than pensions for most federal workers. Plus, the Congressional benefit is protected from inflation with Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs), a feature that fewer than 1 in 10 private plans offer. Lawmakers in FERS pay 1.3 percent of their salaries toward the Congressional retirement benefit, but this covers just a small portion of an average payout (they also pay into and collect Social Security). Lawmakers in CSRS and FERS also began participating in Social Security due to a law passed in 1983, but have several contribution amounts they could pay depending upon which benefit option they choose (there's something called "dual coverage," something called the "offset plan," etc., which I could explain further).
In 2012, Congress moved to equalize its own pension benefit formula with that of rank-and-file federal employees (and raise the contribution rate to boot). However, this formula generally applies just to lawmakers elected in 2012 for the first time.