Financial Disclaimer
Your retirement system's official estimate always wins
If a figure here disagrees with one from TRS, CalSTRS, NYSTRS, PSERS, STRS Ohio, MSRB, the FRS or OPM, theirs is correct and ours is wrong. They have your actual service record. We have a formula and whatever you typed into a box.
What these calculators do not account for
A real benefit calculation draws on your full employment record and a body of plan rules that no free web tool reproduces. The estimates here ignore all of the following, any one of which can move your benefit materially:
- Purchased service credit. Military service, prior public employment, leaves of absence and out-of-state teaching can often be bought back, sometimes changing eligibility dates entirely.
- Breaks in service and part-time work. Most systems prorate part-time service, and a break can reset which tier you fall into.
- Unused sick and annual leave. Several systems convert unused leave into additional service credit at retirement.
- Survivor and joint-and-survivor elections. Choosing an option that continues payments to a spouse reduces your own monthly amount, often by 5% to 15%. Our figures are the single-life maximum.
- Disability provisions. Disability retirement uses different formulas and different eligibility entirely.
- Divorce orders. A domestic relations order can assign part of your benefit to a former spouse.
- Taxes. Every figure on this site is pre-tax. Federal income tax applies to most public pensions, and state treatment varies widely.
- Health insurance premiums. Many retirees have premiums deducted directly from the annuity, sometimes several hundred dollars a month.
Where our own numbers are approximations
Some systems do not publish the factors we would need in order to be exact. Rather than quietly guessing, we flag these on the page where they occur and list them here:
| System | What is approximated | Why |
|---|---|---|
| TRS Texas | Early retirement below the Rule of 80 | TRS publishes only a maximum reduction of 53% at age 55, not the full table. The exact factors are in TRS Rules 29.11 and 29.12. |
| CalSTRS | Age factors between published anchor ages | CalSTRS publishes anchor values (1.16% at 55, 2.00% at 62, 2.40% at 65). Intermediate ages are interpolated. |
| STRS Ohio | Early retirement reduction | Ohio law sets this by a percentage determined by the board's actuary, and the table is not in member materials. |
| PSERS Pennsylvania | Class T-G reductions | PSERS describes the reduction as actuarial and publishes no percentage for the Class T-G age 57 with 25 years provision. |
| MSERS Massachusetts | Group 2 and Group 4 factors at 30+ years | Massachusetts publishes the enhanced 30-plus grid only for Group 1. |
There are also two facts we could not verify from a primary source and have labelled as such rather than asserting: whether NYSTRS members participate in Social Security, and whether the enhanced multiplier schedule in Ohio Revised Code 3307.58 remains operative for members with 35 or more years. Both are noted on the relevant pages.
How to get a real estimate
Every system covered here offers an official estimate based on your actual record, and most let you generate one online after logging in. That estimate accounts for your purchased credit, your exact service dates and your chosen survivor option. Before making an irreversible decision about when to retire, get one. Use this site to explore scenarios and understand the rules, then confirm the number with the people who will be paying it.
This is not financial, tax or legal advice
We are not your financial adviser, accountant or attorney, and nothing here is tailored to your circumstances. Deciding when to retire involves your health, your spouse, your other assets, your tax position and your plans, none of which a calculator knows about. For advice on your own situation, speak to a qualified professional who can see the whole picture.
Plan rules change
This is not hypothetical. In 2025 and 2026 alone, NYSTRS added a new unreduced retirement age, STRS Ohio changed its service requirement twice, PSERS granted its first cost-of-living adjustment in over two decades, Massachusetts restructured its COLA law, and Florida created a minimum COLA for Special Risk members. Figures that were correct last year may not be correct now. We review our data periodically and stamp each page with the date, but we cannot promise it is current at the moment you read it.
More detail
Our methodology page lists every formula and constant with its source. If you find an error, please tell us — a report with a link to the official source gets fixed fastest.