$1,400--that's the monthly pension that Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union receives per month from his government. Technically, it's 40,000 rubles, but $1,400 to you and me. And to think of that as a yearly retirement, that's $16,800 a year!

This information comes from the April 9, 2006 issue of Time Magazine, in a mini-interview, "10 Questions for Mikhail Gorbachev."

The most interesting question in the interview is Gorbachev's take on the economic difficulties faced by those living in the Russian states today. In answer to the question, "What is the root of the current difficulties in the lives of many Russians?" Gorbachev places the blame squarely on the shoulders of his successor, Boris Yeltsin:

Yeltsin ruined the country. He allowed the wealthy of the country to be taken by a few people. And the West was never critical of Yeltsin. I think President Vladmir Putin is correcting the mess that Yeltsin made.

Fascinating stuff. But I still can't get past his pension of $16,800 a year.

I couldn't remember, so I looked up the pension amount we give our former presidents. We haven't always provided for our former leaders, but the practice began in 1958 when Congress passed the "Former Presidents' Act" on behalf of former President Harry S. Truman who was in such bad financial shape that he and Bess Truman had to move into his mother-in-law's house after his term as president ended.

Currently we pay our former presidents $157,000 a year. Not too shabby compared to their Russian counterpart. If you're keeping track, this amounts to a little over $13,000 a month, somewhat shy of Gorbachev's entire yearly salary.

But it doesn't stop there. We also provide our ex-presidents lifetime healthcare and even free postage. Oh, and each former president presents a budget to the federal government each year to cover office equipment, travel and other expenses.

Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't do that. We certainly wouldn't want any of our ex-presidents to live in poverty. However, consider that our former presidents do have other forms of income. At one point former president George Bush was making $4 million dollars a year in speaking fees. If you want Bill Clinton to address an audience, get ready to pay $100,000 or more. And of course, don't forget the multi-million dollar book deals. I don't begrudge anyone making money, but this is a far cry from Herbert Hoover, who refused his president's salary after making a fortune as a mining engineer. See "Too Rich a Deal for Ex-Presidents" for more information.

According to the Time interview, though, Mikhail Gorbachev has taken a cue from his American counterparts. The 75-year-old Gorbachev's newest book is entitled To Understand Perestroika. I hope it will sell well for him.

One final note. It's hard for me to think about Gorbachev and not remember the book given to me at the 1988 Christian Booksellers Association, Gorbachev: Has the Real Antichrist Come by Robert Faid.



I guess Faid was wrong, wasn't he? I didn't doubt that then of course either. But I've always held onto this book as an example to show to my classes as to why to avoid the latest sensationalistic attempt at identifying predictive prophecy with exact figures of current events.