Should Kagan and Sotomayor retire?

[politicallefty]

Sotomayor- yes, she probably should retire by 2024
Kagan- no, unless she knows she is very sick for some private reason

Sotomayor likely will try to serve 18 years to receive full pension, as Souter did before. Not sure if they changed the rule now.

It appears that the federal judicial pension kicks in at age 65 and 15 years of service as a federal judge.  Sotomayor is 68 and has been a federal judge since 1992, because she held district and circuit court level judgeships before being appointed to SCOTUS, so she should clearly be eligible.  Souter had never been a federal judge before joining SCOTUS, so he would have needed to serve all of his 15 years there.  This would also apply to Kagan.  Kagan would not be eligible until at least 2025. 

Interesting, I read Tobin's the nine which claimed SCOTUS pension is 18 years and that's why Souter retired in 2009. Not sure if he was wrong or they changed the law.

I've only ever heard of the Rule of 80 (which is what the 65+15 is referring to). It seems fairly obvious that Justice Souter did not want a right-wing successor, so 2009 would've been the first year available upon reaching the retirement/pension requirement. From what I understand, he would've waited longer if another Justice had wanted to retire that year.