Massachusetts State Police Pension Calculator

Massachusetts State Police Pension Calculator

 

This free, online Massachusetts State Police calculator gives you an estimate of your State Police (SERS Group 3) pension retirement benefits (including interactions of inflation and your COLA) based on the information you input about your salary, years of service, and predicted retirement  date. It is the only calculator on the web for calculating your pension benefits.

 

It works for participants hired before April 2, 2012 as well as participants hired on or after April 2, 2012.  It takes into account whether you are a military veteran, and it allows you to take into account how your benefits might change if you decide to purchase years of service based on your military service. This calculator shows you the combined effects of your SERS cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA)–3% of the first $13,000–and inflation on your annual pension benefits over time. If you prefer to do calculations by hand, you can use information from the State Police Retirement Percentage Chart to do so.

 

The Massachusetts State Retirement Board emphasizes that  calculators such as this give approximations or estimations of retirement benefits. Actual retirement benefits can only be determined by MA SERS at the time of retirement.

 

To see how marital property is divided in divorce, see this page. There are particularly complicated rules for dividing MA state employee (MTRS and SERS) pensions. You can read a very thorough description of how MA state pensions are treated in divorce here.

 

You can see actual dollar figures when MA SERS (Group 1, 2, 4) or MTRS pensions are divided in divorce with this unique MA state pension division calculator.   

This website also contains an MBTA pension benefit calculator, which, like this state police calculator, is unique and the only one on the web.

 

If you need to divide your MA State Police pension for divorce, you will need  a DRO (Domestic Relations Order).  Finally, you can see how much your pension is worth today as a lump sum, by doing a present value calculation. Because State Police hired before April 2, 2012 are able to retire at any age, as long as they have 20 years of service, the present values of their pensions can easily exceed $1,000,000.

 

 

How Your COLA and Inflation Will Affect Your Annual Benefit Over Time

 

You may find this calculator valuable for financial planning because it includes calculations showing the value of your projected MA SERS State Police (Group 3) pension in today’s dollars for each year until you reach age 100. The MA SERS COLA–3% of the first $13,000–only protects the first $13,000 of your pension from inflation each year. The rest of your pension will lose value quickly because of inflation.

 

You can do your own calculations below and download your own .pdf report showing the year-by-year effects of COLA and inflation on your future annual pension benefits. You can change the projected inflation rate, if you like, and you can choose which of the possible annual pension benefit amounts (i.e., Option A, B, or C) you would like it to calculate.

 

This calculator will not produce estimates for disability, termination, or MA “Special Spousal” benefits. You can read the actual text of the MA laws governing State Police pensions here (MA Generals Laws, Chapter 32, Section 6).

 

Which MA State Police pension calculator—hired BEFORE April 2, 2012 or hired on or AFTER April 2, 2012--would you like to use?


I was hired BEFORE April 2, 2012.
I was hired on or AFTER April 2, 2012.

  Disclaimer. Before filling out the form, check this box to indicate that you understand and agree with the disclaimer below.

I agree to use this calculator at my own risk and understand the following: it produces estimates; the numbers it produces are for informational purposes only; retirement benefits are determined by MSRB rather than this calculator; and while it is intended to reproduce the calculations from the MA State Police Retirement Percentage Chart, it does not guarantee that they match.

Yes No
Years:
Months:
Years:
Months:
To make changes, simply scroll up and make changes, then press "Calculate now" again. To see inflation and COLA effects, scroll down the page.
 
Estimate for retirement date of:
 
With of service, which you entered for Question 4
With an additional of service that might be purchased in the future, which you entered for Question 5

Option A

 
 
Years and months of creditable serviceCreditable service is time that you have worked as a teacher, administrator or other Massachusetts public employee, and for which you have paid or transferred retirement contributions to the MTRS. Creditable service also includes Peace Corps service and certain military service. Generally, part-time service is pro-rated.:
Percentage of final 12 month salary:
Final 12 month salary:
Option A annual allowance:
+ Veteran's bonusIf you are a wartime veteran, $15 for each year of teaching service (up to a maximum of $300) is added to your annual retirement allowance.:
Estimated Option A annual allowance:

Option B

Estimated Option A annual allowance:
x 99% (appr. 1% less than Option A)The Option B allowance is approximately one percent less than the Option A amount. This option's payments are slightly less because Option B provides for a possible one-time, lump-sum survivor benefit.The Option B survivor benefit is a lump-sum payment of the balance, if any, remaining in your annuity savings account at the time of your death. During your retirement, the balance in your annuity savings account decreases by an amount equal to the annuity portion of your retirement allowance. In most cases, the annuity account will be depleted after 11 years.:
Estimated Option B annual allowance:

Option C

If you wish to see your estimated benefit for Option C, enter your beneficiary’s birthdate at Question 7, above.
Estimated Option A annual allowance:
x Option C factor:
Option C annual allowance:
+ Veteran Bonus:
Estimated Option C annual allowance:
x 2/3 (annual survivor portion):
Estimated annual member-survivor benefit:

Inflation

The chart below shows how much your future pension payments will be worth in today’s dollars. By default, the calculations are made using your Option A annual allowance and an inflation rate of 1.99%. (The average rate of inflation for the 38 year period from 1990 to 2018 was actually much higher--2.99%--but financial markets are predicting lower inflation over the next 10 to 20 years). You can use different assumptions by entering a different inflation rate in the “Inflation Rate Chosen” box and by entering a different annual pension amount in the “Annual pension amount” box. If you expect to choose Option B or Option C, for example, you would enter your Option B or Option C annual allowance here (see the purple or pink chart, above, for the amount), rather than the Option A amount.
Projected age of retirement:
Inflation rate chosen:
Annual pension amount:
COLA: 3.00% of the first $13,000
Age Year during which Age starts Partial Year Gross Annual Benefit Including COLA Value of Annual Payment Adjusted for Inflation (Value in Today's Dollars)


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