Report: Disgraced Still-Congressman Wu Can Draw Nearly $900,000 In Pension Benefits

TBI ^ | 8-3-2011 | ke Miller

[Gene Eric]

This is completely acceptable. It’s part of the deal. /s

[muawiyah]

Am I to assume you read the whole thing?

Congresscritters are covered by the same retirement system I was. As you all know federal employees spend most of the day gathered around watercoolers at the office discussing their retirement. As a result they all become SUPER EXPERTS in the most subtle nuances of the federal retirement systems.

So, yes, I am an expert. In fact, back about 1987 when we were given a choice of FERS or CSRS for the remainder of our years devoted to public service I wrote a massive computer program that evaluated every detail in both systems, and set up contingencies for various events ~ including the heat death of the universe.

Interestingly enough my computer said TRANSFER TO FERS.

One piece of propaganda fostered by the same sort of people who come up with the Congressional retirement plan stories served to dissuade virtually all federal employees from transferring from CSRS to FERS.

That propaganda was that "Hey, if Congress changed the retirement system they did it to screw us out of our retirement."

I observed something far different. The staff people who wrote the law "for the appropriate Congressional committee" were all my age. They certainly wouldn't change retirement to hurt themselves would they.

Well, a detailed examination of the legislation revealed that the guys writing the law actually tailored it to BENEFIT people who were as much as 10 years younger then themselves, or 10 years older!

Sounds like ObamaKKKare doesn't it?

So, I was in the middle of that cohort, so it meant that in the long run there was no way I could lose a penny by shifting to FERS, and would, in fact, pick up extra bucks by early participation in the Thrift Savings Plan (a 401(k) type plan).

I keep up on my benefits Fur Shur and retain my sharpness in evaluating changes to the retirement system.

You mentioned a 12 year thing that didn't relate to anything I'd ever seen or heard in federal retirement systems ~ and it still doesn't.