Duncan: Cut deficit by clamping down on early retirement (News-Sentinel/Collins)
U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. is urging the congressional “super committee” looking for ways to lower the federal deficit to seriously consider reducing the number of federal employees eligible for early retirement, reports Michael Collins.
The Knoxville Republican sent a letter to the panel this week and argued that the government could save billions of dollars by prohibiting all new federal workers from drawing federal pensions any earlier than age 62.
“There are many thousands of federal employees who are in their 50s or even in their late 40s,” Duncan wrote. “As much as American lifespans have increased, we simply cannot afford to allow people to draw federal pensions at such young ages.”
The congressman stressed that he is not suggesting changing the retirement rules for anyone currently employed by the federal government.
“But what we need to start doing — and we need to start doing it sooner than later — we need to tell the new people coming in that we can’t give them as lucrative retirements as in the past,” Duncan said in an interview.
In 2009, the average age for federal retirees was 58.9, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. But under voluntary early retirement, an employee with 20 or more years of service can retire as early as age 50.