In his Nov. 8 guest column (“Reform Congress, cut the frills”), Bob Elliott tells us that “our politicians … need to serve as little as one term in office to qualify for retirement on full pay.”

Politifact.com says otherwise: “No member of Congress is eligible for any pension unless he or she has served in Congress for at least five years … To collect, a congressman must be age 62, or be age 50 with 20 years of service, or be any age with 25 years of service.”

The details of the retirement plans for Congress are available in the federal report, “Retirement Benefits for Members of Congress” prepared by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

Kenneth A. Hubel

North Liberty