Exiting the Oval Office brings ex-presidents into one of the world’s most exclusive clubs, with there being just four other living ex-presidents left after former President Jimmy Carter died late last year. Biden, set to join the club in a few days, will still receive pensions and protections from his time in office. 

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After serving 36 years in the Senate, eight as vice president, and four as president, his pension will be at least $13,000 higher than his current salary of $400,000, according to a National Taxpayers Union Foundation report. When Biden leaves office, he will receive a $166,000 congressional pension and an executive branch pension of $246,400 per year.

Combined, Biden will receive about $413,000 per year. 

Former presidents are also entitled to Secret Service protection for life, under the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012. Biden’s protection detail will decrease when he leaves office, as sitting presidents have far more protection than former presidents.

This law reversed a previous law that limited Secret Service protection for former presidents and their families to 10 years if they served after 1997. Starting with former President George W. Bush, all future former presidents receive Secret Service protection for the rest of their lives. 

Security around former presidents varies according to their threat levels and public exposure. The toughest measures are typically taken in the immediate aftermath of their leaving office.

Ex-presidents can also do away with their protections if they so wish. Former President Richard Nixon relinquished his Secret Service protection in 1985, 11 years after he quit the office, and he is still the only president to do so.

Former presidents are also entitled to medical treatment in military hospitals, which they pay for at rates set by the Office of Management and Budget. Presidents can additionally buy health insurance under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

In terms of day-to-day life, a former president can do pretty much whatever they please, but Biden hasn’t indicated what exactly he will do. Immediately after former President Barack Obama left office, he took a vacation to Palm Springs, California, and then the British Virgin Islands with his family.

Save for President-elect Donald Trump, ex-presidents typically escape the public eye and become more private in their day-to-day lives. For example, Bush Jr. took up painting when he moved back to Texas and has rarely engaged in public, political events. 

When Biden moved out of the vice presidential residence at the Naval Observatory in 2017, he and first lady Jill Biden rented a home in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., suburbs until 2020. While in the White House, Biden spent many weekends at his beach home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. 

Former presidents also typically set up foundations under their name, which fund their presidential library plans. Obama broke ground on his presidential center in 2021.