Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi announced she will not seek re-election at the end of her current term in 2027, ending a nearly 40-year career in Congress — and welcoming a potentially robust retirement package, too.
Pelosi, who was the first woman to hold the role of speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has represented her San Francisco district in the House as a Democrat since winning a special election in 1987. She announced the news of her retirement via a nearly six-minute video on the social-media platform X, where she thanked her constituents for supporting her during those four decades.
Most Read from MarketWatch
“I say to my colleagues in the House all the time, no matter what title they have bestowed upon me — speaker, leader, whip — there has been no greater honor for me than to stand on the House floor and say, ‘I speak for the people of San Francisco,’” she said in the video. “That is why I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know. I will not be seeking re-election to Congress. With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative.”
Because Pelosi was first elected in or after 1984, she is automatically covered under the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS) — though members can decline coverage if they were elected prior to September 2003, according to Congress’ website.
FERS has three parts: a basic annuity, which is a monthly pension based on years of service and the average of the three highest consecutive years of basic pay; the Thrift Savings Plan, which is similar to employer-sponsored plans like 401(k)s; and Social Security.
FERS offers four possible retirement packages, according to Congress’ website, depending on the legislator’s age and years of service. Pelosi, 85, would be eligible for an immediate and full pension, since she has more than 25 years of service. Full immediate pensions are also available to anyone else who is 62 or older with at least five years of federal service, or age 50 and older with at least 20 years of service. She could also defer her full pension, because she is older than 62 with at least five years of federal service. Other options include retirement with an immediate but reduced pension, or a deferred reduced pension.
Social Security is available to anyone with enough credits beginning at age 62. The longer an individual waits to claim, the more they get in monthly payments: 100% of what they’re owed based on their earnings history at full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born in or after 1960, or about an additional 8% for each year thereafter up until age 70.
Pelosi is one of a handful of legislators to announce their retirements recently. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who was the longest-serving Senate party leader in history, announced on his 83rd birthday this year that he would retire at the end of his current term. Democratic New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, 78, also announced this year he would not seek re-election. President Joe Biden, 82, retired after his four-year presidential term ended in January, while Rep. Grace Napolitano, a California Democrat, was the oldest member of the House before retiring in January at age 88.
Still, there are plenty of even older members of Congress still serving who have not yet announced their retirements, including: Sen. Charles Grassley, the 92-year-old Iowa Republican and the current president pro tempore of the Senate; Kentucky Republican Rep. Hal Rogers, 87; California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, 87; Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, 84; and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 76, to name a few.
Congress members’ net worths are not publicly available, but their stock investments are. Pelosi’s stock holdings are worth $59.7 million, according to Capitol Trades, which tracks legislators’ portfolios.
In Pelosi’s nearly 40 years in Congress, she has worked on legislation including the Affordable Care Act, the American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Dodd-Frank Act, among other key laws. She was the first woman to be named speaker of the House in 2007, and then took back that role in 2019, making her the first person to do so in more than 60 years. President Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2024.
Most Read from MarketWatch