Calculate Your Benefits

Age: Using your age as of your last birthday, look at the age factor chart and use the corresponding percentage to determine your benefit rate. For instance, if you are currently 55 your benefit rate is .015.

Benefit Rate Percentage Chart* Group 1 Employees

*Add 5 years to age for (group 2 members) City Electricians, Add 10 years to age for (group 4 members) Public Safety Officers in order to determine age factor %. All other employees (group 1 members) use actual age as of last birthday.

Length of Creditable Service: You are considered eligible for retirement if you have twenty years of credible service or you are age 55 with at least 10 years of creditable service. Creditable service is earned by contributing employees working at least 20 hours or more per week.

Accruing Military Service Credit in the Public Sector: Under M.G.L. Chapter 32, s 4 (1)(b), a member of a public retirement system may be eligible to accrue creditable service for military service in the following two instances:

1. Any period he or she was on a leave of absence from a governmental unit for the purpose of serving in the armed forces and is reinstated or reemployed in a governmental unit within 2 years of discharge or release from military service. A member seeking to retire from a governmental unit immediately after his or her discharge or release from military service will not receive creditable service for the period of the military leave without first being reinstated or reemployed.
2. M.G.L. Chapter 4, s7, cl.43. "'Veteran' shall mean any person, male or female...

(a) whose last discharge or release from his wartime service, as defined herein, was under honorable conditions and who (b) served in the army, navy, marine corps, coast guard, or air force of the United States for not less than ninety days active service, at lease one day of which was for wartime service, provided, that any person who so served in wartime and was awarded a service-connected disability or a Purple Heart, or who died in such service under conditions other than dishonorable, shall be deemed to be a veteran notwithstanding his failure to complete ninety days of active service."

Of course, a member cannot purchase the same service twice. Also, if the member meets the definition of "Veteran," he or she may purchase National Guard or Active Reserve time at the ratio of 5 to 1.

Salary Level: To figure out your average annual rate of compensation, add your three highest consecutive years compensation and divide by three.

Now that you have figured out your age, your length of creditable service and your salary, you can calculate your approximate allowance under Option A. For more information on Options, see p.51 of Massachusetts Public Employee Retirement Guide (906KB).

*This worksheet is designed solely for estimates.
Actual pension amounts will be calculated at time of retirement.