Marietta Times – If some members of Congress want to raise the retirement age, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown thinks they ought to be willing to wait the same amount of time to start collecting their own pensions.

In Marietta Wednesday for a forum with residents of Glenwood Retirement Community, Brown discussed his sponsorship of the Shared Retirement Sacrifice Act of 2011. The bill would tie current and future Congressional representatives’ access to their federal retirement benefits to the Social Security retirement age.

Prior to speaking to more than 30 Glenwood residents, Brown said the measure would produce some cost-savings but was more about fairness.

“I just don’t think it’s right that we can retire at a younger age than they can,” he said.

Currently, members of Congress are eligible for a pension at age 62, if they have served a minimum of five years, or at age 50, if they’ve served at least 20 years, according to www.senate.gov. After 25 years of service, they are eligible at any age.

The amount is determined by years of service and the average of the highest three years’ salaries.

Read the whole article »