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Teacher Retirement System Calculator

Teacher retirement system calculator works out Total accrual (% of final average salary) and Gross annual annuity from Final average salary (high-3 / final compensation), Years of creditable service and Age when the annuity begins. The default figures on this page give annuity payable to you of 42,000.00; change any entry and the result, the working and the sources update together.

Annuity payable to you
42,000.00
Pension Benefit Calculator
Total accrual (% of final average salary)
60.0000 %
Gross annual annuity
42,000.00
Age reduction applied
0.0000 %
Annuity after age reduction
42,000.00
Cost of the survivor election
0.00
Monthly annuity payable to you
3,500.00
Annual survivor annuity
0.00
Share of final average salary replaced
60.0000 %
Annuity after the projected COLAs
42,000.00
FERS minimum retirement age
57.0000
Worked out from US Office of Personnel Management, FERS Information - Computation and 3 other sources.
The accrual rate you entered drives this result; take it from your plan’s own summary plan description.
An estimate only. Your actual benefit is computed by the plan administrator from your official service history, high-3 or final compensation, deposits and redeposits, unused sick leave, part-time proration and court orders. Confirm every figure with the plan before making a retirement decision.

Your figures

Updates as you type
Formatting only. This does not change the calculation.
The average annual basic pay over the plan’s averaging period — 36 months for FERS, CSRS and the military High-3 systems, the final month for military Final Pay.
Use decimals for part years, for example 30.5 for 30 years and 6 months.
FERS MRA+10 reduces the annuity by 5% for each year under 62; CSRS early retirement reduces by 2% for each year under 55.
Used by the "Other plan" option — the percentage of final average salary each year of service earns. Teacher and state plans commonly use 1.5% to 2.5%; take the exact figure from your plan handbook.
Used only to report the FERS minimum retirement age from the OPM birth-year table.

How this is worked out

5 steps
  1. Plan: Other plan. Accrual: 2% x 30 years of service.
  2. Total accrual = 60% of the 70000 final average salary = 42000 a year.
  3. No age reduction applies.
  4. No survivor annuity elected, so nothing is deducted.
  5. Monthly annuity = 42000 / 12 = 3500.

Figures from US public pension formulas, checked 31 August 2026. Its 5 worked examples are re-run on every release, last on 15 September 2026. What changed · how reference data is kept current

Sources and references

4 sources
US Office of Personnel Management, FERS Information - Computation
FERS 1% and 1.1% accrual, the 1.7%/1.0% special-provision formula, the CSRS 1.5/1.75/2.0 tiers, the high-3 definition and the MRA+10 reduction of 5/12 of one percent a month.
10 U.S.C. 1409, Retired pay multiplier
2.5% a year for Final Pay and High-3, 2.0% a year under the Blended Retirement System, and the 100% cap on the multiplier.
CalSTRS, Age factor
Age-factor tables for the 2% at 60 and 2% at 62 benefit structures and the 0.2 percentage-point career factor at 30 years.

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What the teacher retirement system calculator calculates

Estimates the annual and monthly benefit from a defined-benefit pension using the plan’s published accrual formula, age reduction, survivor election and benefit cap, covering FERS, CSRS, the uniformed services, CalSTRS and any plan whose accrual rate you supply.

How to use this teacher retirement system calculator

Enter Final average salary (high-3 / final compensation), Years of creditable service, Age when the annuity begins and Age reduction. Total accrual (% of final average salary) updates as you type. Change one figure at a time to see what drives the result.

How the result is worked out

Open “How this is worked out” beside the result for the step-by-step calculation behind Total accrual (% of final average salary), Gross annual annuity and Age reduction applied.

The method follows US Office of Personnel Management, FERS Information - Computation, 5 U.S.C. 8415 (FERS basic annuity), 5 U.S.C. 8339 (CSRS computation) and 5 U.S.C. 8419 / 8339(j) (survivor reductions), 10 U.S.C. 1409, Retired pay multiplier and CalSTRS, Age factor.

What you can compare

Change one input at a time to see how it affects Total accrual (% of final average salary), Gross annual annuity and Age reduction applied. The inputs you can vary are Final average salary (high-3 / final compensation), Years of creditable service, Age when the annuity begins, Age reduction, Survivor annuity election and Accrual rate per year of service.

Understanding Total accrual (% of final average salary), Gross annual annuity and Age reduction applied

An estimate only. Your actual benefit is computed by the plan administrator from your official service history, high-3 or final compensation, deposits and redeposits, unused sick leave, part-time proration and court orders. Confirm every figure with the plan before making a retirement decision.

Results are general information, not financial, tax, legal, medical or engineering advice. Check any decision that matters with a qualified professional.

Embed this calculator on your website

Copy this code into any page. The calculator appears with the figures currently entered, sizes itself to fit, and a small credit line links back here. Free, no account, no ads inside it, no tracking of your readers. Set your own figures and fixed fields; Personal removes the credit line, sets your colour and shows you which sites use it.

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Frequently asked questions

How to calculate when you can retire as a teacher?

Estimates the annual and monthly benefit from a defined-benefit pension using the plan’s published accrual formula, age reduction, survivor election and benefit cap, covering FERS, CSRS, the uniformed services. Open “How this is worked out” beside the result to see each step for your own figures.

Is a teacher's pension better than a 401k?

Estimates the annual and monthly benefit from a defined-benefit pension using the plan’s published accrual formula, age reduction, survivor election and benefit cap, covering FERS, CSRS, the uniformed services. On the figures this page opens with — final average salary (high-3 / final compensation) 100,000, years of creditable service 30 years and age when the annuity begins 62 years — the annuity payable to you is 42,000. Put your own figures in their place and the working updates beside the result.

What information do I need for the teacher retirement system calculator?

You need Final average salary (high-3 / final compensation), Years of creditable service, Age when the annuity begins, Age reduction, Survivor annuity election, Accrual rate per year of service, Year of birth and Assumed annual cost-of-living adjustment. The page opens with default figures that give annuity payable to you of 42,000.00, so you can see the scale before entering your own.

What does this teacher retirement system calculator show?

It shows Total accrual (% of final average salary), Gross annual annuity, Age reduction applied, Annuity after age reduction, Cost of the survivor election, Annuity payable to you, Monthly annuity payable to you and Annual survivor annuity, with the working and any warnings for your entries.

Can I check how the teacher retirement system calculator result was calculated?

Yes. The “How this is worked out” section shows the calculation steps, and the sources section identifies the references used for the method.

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