Any post-political office pension should be 100% means tested—with both income and asset caps.
And, really, since most constituents don’t have such pensions, isn’t inappropriate for elected or bureaucratic officials on any level to have them as well?
If an at-risk 401k is good enough for us, it is good enough for them.
Zero pensions.
If these people are really interested in “serving” it should not be a financial bonanza for them. If there is a financial incentive, it just encourages corruption.
Let them save money in a 401(k) like most Americans do. If these people had to live like normal Americans, there would be no need for “listening tours” because they wouldn’t be so out of touch.
The US was founded on the idea of self-rule. The point was to eliminate the aristocracy, not to create a new one which is what has happened.