Retirement Eligibility and Calculation Details:

You will become eligible for regular retirement when any of the following criteria are satisfied:

1. 30 years of service credit at any age
2. 25 years of service credit at age 55, or
3. 10 years of service credit at age 60

You are eligible for an actuarially reduced early retirement benefit once you obtain 20 years of service credit, regardless of age. The amount of the reduction is based on the number of months that you are away from the regular retirement criteria (listed above).

All calculation options are based on the Maximum Plan option, which is 2.5% of the final average salary for each year of service credit. For example, if you retire with an average salary of $3,000 per month and have 30 years of creditable service credit, the calculation would be as follows:

Maximum Monthly Benefit = (30 years X 2.5% X $3,000/month )
                                             = $2,250 per month

If you were hired by the state before July 1, 1986, you may add an additional $25 per month to the Maximum Monthly Benefit calculation. An audit of your file at time of retirement will determine whether a maximum of $25 should be added to your benefit calculation.
 
Data Screens

In order to get a benefit estimate, you will be required to enter data into three data entry screens. Some of the data required by this calculator is information that you can obtain from our Member Information web page (requires user id and PIN), or from your last Member Annual Statement. The data entered will determine the results. Since the data is sometimes a projection of what will occur in the future, the accuracy of the estimate will depend on the accuracy of your projections. You should be prepared to enter the following information:

Screen 1 – General Information: Requires entry of general information, such as your birth date, your beneficiary's birth date, and your current service credit. Your birth date and current service credit will be used to approximate your first regular retirement eligibility date.

Current Service Credit is your approximate service credit to date. You should add .083 to the service credit on your last Member Annual Statement for each additional month worked since that statement, then round the result to the nearest tenth of a year. For example, if your last Member Annual Statement shows that you have 10.3 years of service credit at the end of the last calendar year, and you are doing the calculation in June of the next year, you could add half of a year’s credit to your Annual Statement balance, giving 10.8 years of service credit as of June (10.3 + 0.5 = 10.8).

Purchased military service credit can be used to meet retirement eligibility for 25 years at age 55 or 30 years at any age.

Screen 2 – Retirement Benefit Selection: This screen displays your first regular retirement eligibility date. If you aren’t currently eligible to retire, you must choose one of three calculation options:

1. Calculate Regular and IBO plans
2. Calculate Regular, DROP, and IBO plans
3. Calculate Early Retirement only.

Screen 2 functions differently if you are already eligible for retirement. You will be required to enter your expected employment termination date and the number of IBO months to be used in the IBO retirement plan calculation.

DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan): DROP is an optional method of retiring that allows you to receive a lump sum amount of up to 36 times your monthly retirement benefit at the time of retirement. You must be eligible for regular retirement. You continue to work and receive your regular salary, you no longer pay contributions to the retirement system, and the retirement benefit you would have received if you had retired is placed in a DROP account.

IBO (Initial Benefit Option): This option is selected at retirement and allows a member to receive up to 36 months of the maximum benefit in a lump sum. However, this option eliminates the monthly benefit Option 1 as a retirement option choice and reduces future lifetime monthly benefits.

Screen 3 – Employee Data at Termination: You will be required to enter an estimated final average salary, employee contributions, and estimated leave balances. The expected termination date is prominently displayed on the screen, and users are instructed to project data fields to the termination date.

Final Average Annual Salary: The Final Average Annual Salary is the average of your highest 36 successive months of earnings. If you are unable to project your future final average annual salary, you may choose to enter your current salary to calculate your benefit in today’s dollars.

Total Contributions: LASERS Option 1 benefit calculation requires entry of your total contributions at the time you plan to retire. The contribution amount is used in determining the Option 1 benefit amount.

Annual and Sick Leave: Unused leave can be converted to retirement service credit to increase your lifetime monthly benefit, or it can be paid as an actuarially calculated lump sum. Again, you will have to estimate what your annual and sick leave balances will be at the time you retire.
Getting Help

An online “help” feature has been implemented in this benefit estimator to assist with data entry fields and complex retirement terminology. Fields with help text are underlined and are programmed to display related help text when you put your cursor on, or click on, the underlined text.