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| Internet Rumors |
January 16, 2004 |
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Dear Friends,
The Internet makes the "pass it on" chain letters of our childhood seem like the pony express.
Internet rumors come in waves and, when they are about government, people ask me about them. Then, the same rumor will make the rounds again months or years later.
The one I`ve gotten a lot of over the last few weeks has gone through several waves before. The gist of it is that Members of Congress don`t care about Social Security because we don`t pay in to Social Security and that we have a retirement plan that pays us our salaries for life, no matter how short a time we have served. Absolutely appalling! Outrageous! . . . And not true.
All Members of Congress pay into Social Security and they qualify for Social Security in the same way as other Americans.
Before 1984, neither federal civil service workers nor Members of Congress paid taxes to Social Security, nor were they eligible for Social Security benefits. At that time federal employees, including Members of Congress, were instead covered by a separate pension plan called the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act (P.L. 98-21) required federal employees first hired after 1983 to participate in Social Security. These amendments also required all Members of Congress to participate in Social Security as of January 1, 1984.
Because the old Civil Service Retirement System was not designed to mesh with Social Security, Congress directed the development of a new retirement plan for all federal workers. The result was the Federal Employees` Retirement System Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-335). Members of Congress first elected in 1984 or later are covered under the Federal Employees` Retirement System (FERS), just like all other federal employees.
Retirement for Members of Congress is done in the same way as it is for other federal employees. It`s financed through a combination of employee and employer contributions. All members pay Social Security payroll taxes equal to 6.2% of pay just like everyone else. I also pay 1.3% of my salary into a federal employee retirement fund.
Federal employees, including Members of Congress, are eligible for a pension at age 62 if they have completed at least 5 years of service. Members and federal employees are eligible for a pension at age 50 if they have completed 20 years of service, or at any age after completing 25 years of service. The amount of the pension depends on years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of salary.
So, we pay into Social Security and are eligible for Social Security just like every other American. Our retirement plan is the same as any other federal civil servant and we don`t get a salary for life.
My favorite Internet rumor is that the Post Office is going to start charging postage for the e-mails you send and that there is a bill in Congress to allow them to do this. You guessed it: complete fiction.
It`s a lot more fun to believe the rumors, but I thought you might like to know.
Warm Regards,
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