My guess is Poundstone or some of these other people above are federal employees or have family members who are. Even Freepers turn into entitlement babies when its their own entitlement being discussed :(
The idea that federal employee retirement plans are no good is simply wrong. My father-in-law worked for the IRS for maybe 25 years, retired at a young age (mid-50s), and seems to be doing just fine. He admits to being “lucky”.
Your father’s federal retirement plan (CSRS) no longer exists. It was pretty generous. The present federal pension plan (FERS) pays 1% per year served. That’s not bad, but it isn’t as generous as some seem to think. Most FERS employees save for their own retirement using the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a program similar to private 401K pension plans.