No, the Vice President does not get paid for life. The $235,100 Vice Presidential salary stops when the term ends, and there is no dedicated lifetime pension attached to the office itself. What a former Vice President receives instead is an ordinary federal retirement annuity, calculated the same way it would be for any other career federal employee, based on total years of creditable federal service rather than time in the vice presidency alone.
How the Pension Is Actually Calculated
A former Vice President retires under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), or under the older Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) if their federal career began before 1987. Neither system carves out anything special for the second-highest office in the country.
The FERS formula is straightforward. Take the average of the three highest consecutive years of salary, multiply by 1 percent for each year of creditable service, and that is the annual pension. If the retiree is 62 or older with at least 20 years of service, the multiplier rises to 1.1 percent per year.
Eligibility has a floor. A former Vice President needs at least five years of creditable federal service and must meet the minimum retirement age rules that apply to every other FERS employee.1U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Eligibility A single four-year term as Vice President falls a year short on its own. Because FERS lets you combine service across federal jobs, time in Congress, in the Cabinet, or in other federal positions counts toward both eligibility and the pension math.2National Taxpayers Union Foundation. Pay and Perks for Vice Presidents
Why the Pension Amount Varies So Much
There is no fixed “Vice Presidential pension” figure because the answer depends entirely on the individual’s federal career. Joe Biden spent 36 years in the Senate before his eight years as Vice President, giving him 44 years of creditable service and eligibility under the older CSRS, where his starting congressional pension was capped at 80 percent of final salary. A Vice President who arrived from a governorship or the private sector with only the four years of the vice presidency itself would receive far less, and might not qualify for a FERS annuity at all without additional federal time.
How This Compares to What Former Presidents Receive
The gap between the two offices is wider than most people expect. Former Presidents draw a lifetime pension under the Former Presidents Act set at the salary of a Cabinet secretary, which was $250,600 in 2025.3National Archives. Former Presidents Act That amount arrives regardless of how long the person served in any federal role. A one-term President with four total years of federal service still collects roughly a quarter-million dollars a year for life.
Former Presidents also receive taxpayer-funded office space, paid staff, and up to $1,000,000 per year for security and travel. Their widows receive $20,000 per year for life unless they remarry before age 60.3National Archives. Former Presidents Act None of that extends to former Vice Presidents. Congress never wrote an equivalent statute for the vice presidency. A former Vice President with modest federal service can realistically draw under $30,000 a year while a former President with the same amount of government experience collects more than eight times that.
Cost-of-Living Adjustments and Taxes
Whatever the starting annuity is, it does not stay frozen. FERS and CSRS annuities receive annual cost-of-living adjustments tied to inflation. For 2026, CSRS retirees receive a 2.8 percent increase and FERS retirees receive 2.0 percent.4U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Learn More About Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) Over time, a former Vice President’s monthly check drifts noticeably above the initial amount.
The pension is partially taxable. Part of each payment is treated as a tax-free return of the retiree’s own contributions, and the rest counts as taxable income.5U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Taxes for Retirement Benefits OPM reports the split on the annual 1099-R, and the IRS provides a simplified method for computing the taxable portion.
Health Coverage After Leaving Office
A former Vice President can carry Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage into retirement only if enrolled in an FEHB plan for the five years of service immediately before retirement, or for the entire period of federal service if that is shorter.6U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Eligibility – Section: Annuitants and Survivor Annuitants A Vice President who came in from Congress with continuous FEHB coverage typically clears this bar easily. The retiree pays the same premium rates as current employees, with the government continuing its share.
If the five-year rule is not met, there is no VP-specific fallback. The same enrollment standard that applies to a GS-7 clerk applies to a former Vice President.7U.S. Office of Personnel Management. FEHB 5-Year Enrollment Requirement FAQ
Secret Service Protection Is Not for Life
Former Presidents have lifetime Secret Service protection under a separate statute. Former Vice Presidents do not. The Former Vice President Protection Act of 2008 authorized protection for former Vice Presidents, their spouses, and their children under 16 for up to six months after leaving office.8Congress.gov. Former Vice President Protection Act – Public Law 110-326 After that, the Secretary of Homeland Security can direct temporary protection when threats justify it.
Extensions do happen. Before leaving office in January 2025, President Biden signed an executive order extending former Vice President Harris’s detail to 18 months. Those extensions are discretionary, not guaranteed.
Survivor Benefits for a Spouse
There is no dedicated survivor pension for the spouse of a former Vice President. The Former Presidents Act pays a President’s widow $20,000 a year; nothing parallel exists for the vice presidency. A VP’s surviving spouse is covered by the standard FERS or CSRS survivor rules.
Under FERS, the retiree can elect a maximum survivor annuity paying the spouse 50 percent of the unreduced pension. Choosing that option reduces the retiree’s own annuity by 10 percent during their lifetime. The surviving spouse generally must have been married to the retiree for at least nine months, though the requirement is waived for accidental death or if a child was born of the marriage.9U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Survivors A surviving spouse who qualifies as a survivor annuitant can also continue FEHB coverage at the same premium rates the retiree was paying.
The Two-Year Lobbying Restriction
One rule cuts the other direction, limiting what a former Vice President can do to earn money after leaving office. For two years, a former Vice President cannot knowingly contact executive branch officials with intent to influence government action on behalf of anyone other than the United States.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 207 – Restrictions on Former Officers, Employees, and Elected Officials of the Executive and Legislative Branches Violations are criminal. Speeches, books, board seats, and private-sector jobs are all still permitted; direct executive branch lobbying for clients or employers is not, until the two years run out.