Congress's Capitol Gains

Although the average Government pension is a modest $12,000 a year, on Capitol Hill, at least, retirement sometimes beats working. According to a study released last week by the National Taxpayers Union, the annual pensions of 138 former members of Congress are higher than their salaries were in their final year of Government service. Five receive more than the current congressional salary of $72,600, including retired House Speaker Carl Albert of Oklahoma, who pockets $87,864 a year. Former Congressmen Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford are paid $30,816 and $64,800 respectively, in addition to their presidential pensions and perks. Even former New Jersey Senator Harrison Williams, who serving a three-year sentence for his role in the Abscam bribery scandal, collects $42,288 a year.

Congressional pensions are based on a formula that takes into account the length of service and the average of the recipient's three highest-salaried years; generous cost of living increases bloat benefits further.

The Reagan Administration lost a bid last year to raise the full-pension-collecting age for all federal civil servants from 50 to 65, but in 1981 both houses did agree to take one cost of living increase annually instead of two.