Why are the majority of politicians well over the retirement age?

SSgt Logan Figueroa — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 21:56:29 -0500

Response by CWO4 Terrence Clark made Mar 11 at 2022 12:09 AM

CWO4 Terrence Clark — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 00:09:31 -0500

Because most folks are lazy and just punch the incumbent.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 11 at 2022 12:39 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 00:39:09 -0500

They aren’t.
https://fiscalnote.com/blog/how-old-is-the-117th-congress
https://www.flsenate.gov/PublishedContent/OFFICES/SECRETARY/AverageAgeOfSenators1980-Present.pdf

But if you asked “why are a lot of politicians old”, some of reasons are:
1 a large percentage of the population is old, it only makes sense that there are a lot of old politicians.
2 rookies don’t generally get elected to national office. It’s only after a long career in local and state politics do people attain national positions.
3 older folks are more likely to have a lot of money. It takes a lot of money to get elected, and it generally helps if you don’t need a day job, so as to be able to focus entirely on the campaign.

Age of Members of 117th Congress (& Averages)

Looking for the age of every member of the 117th Congress? Read FiscalNote's report on the age of Congress, including the oldest, youngest & averages!

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 11 at 2022 9:17 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 09:17:43 -0500

Money, money, money, they can never get enough.

Response by MSG Stan Hutchison made Mar 11 at 2022 11:09 AM

MSG Stan Hutchison — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 11:09:32 -0500

Good question. There are a number of good answers in response on this thread.

Here is a good source for data on our elected officials;
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46705

The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 117th Congress was 58.4 years; of
Senators, 64.3 years.

Just a moment...