MTRS Pension Calculator

Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System (MTRS) Pension Benefit Calculator, Tier 1 and Tier 2

 

This free, online Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System calculator gives you an estimate of your MTRS pension retirement benefits (including interactions of inflation and your COLA) based on the information you input about your salary, years of service, and retirement age and date. It works for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 members. It takes into account whether you are a RetirementPlus participant or a military veteran. This is the only MTRS calculator available that shows you the effects of your MTRS cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA) and inflation on your annual pension benefits over time. A SERS calculator with inflation and COLA calculations is here, and  a unique MA State Police Group 3 online calculator is also available.

 

Attorney Rueschemeyer mediates divorces, including pension division, for ALL Massachusetts counties and courts.

 

The MTRS emphasizes that the formulas used in calculators such as these give approximations or estimations of retirement benefits. Actual retirement benefits will be determined by MTRS at the time of retirement. To see how marital property is divided in divorce, see this page. You can see the most complete description on the web of how MA state pensions are treated in divorce here.

 

You can see actual dollar figures when MTRS pensions are divided in divorce with this unique MA state pension division calculator.

 

If you need to divide your MTRS pension for divorce, Attorney Rueschemeyer can draft the required DRO (Domestic Relations Order). (You can download a 40-page guide about MTRS pensions in divorce here.) Finally, you can see how much your pension is worth today as a lump sum, by doing a present value calculation.

 

You may find this calculator easier to use than other MTRS calculators because this calculator:

 

  • figures out the Option C participant and beneficiary “closest age” automatically, rather than giving you confusing diagrams and instructions where you are likely to make mistakes;
  • does not make you re-enter all your data after you view the results and want to change a single field; and
  • allows you to see, side-by-side, what your retirement benefits would be with and without purchased service.

 

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 MTRS pension in today’s dollars for each year until you reach age 100. The MTRS 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.

 

Take the example of a 49-year-old teacher in 2019 who projects retiring at age 60 with 25 years of service and a high 3-year salary average of $85,000. The Option A annual pension amount will be $42,500. By age 65, the face value of the annual payment will grow slightly, through the COLA, to $43,865. In today’s (2019) dollars, however, that annual payment will only be worth $27,206 at age 65. At age 75, the pension will only be worth $22,050 in 2019 dollars; at age 85, $17, 753; and at age 90, $15,895. You can see all the figures from this COLA-inflation example here.

 

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 what annual pension benefit (i.e., Option A, B, or C) you would like it to calculate.

 

MTRS Tier 1 versus Tier 2 Calculators and Retirement Percentage Charts

 

Choose between the Tier 1 calculator and the Tier 2 calculator below. Tier 1 members have membership dates before April 2, 2012. Tier 2 members have dates on or after April 2, 2012. These calculators will not produce estimates for disability, termination, or MA “Special Spousal” benefits.

 

You can download the Tier 1 Retirement Percentage Chart or the Tier 2 Retirement Percentage Chart here.

 

You can learn more about MTRS retirement at the state site: https://mtrs.state.ma.us/

Which calculator--Tier 1 or Tier 2--would you like to use?


I would like to calculate my estimated future MTRS Tier 1 pension benefits
I would like to calculate my estimated future MTRS Tier 2 pension benefits

  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 MTRS rather than this calculator; and while it is intended to reproduce the calculations and formulas from MTRS, it does not guarantee that they match.

Yes No
Yes No
To make changes, simply scroll up and make changes, then press "Calculate now" again. To see the effects of your COLA and inflation, SCROLL DOWN.
 
Estimate for retirement date of:
 
With years of service, which you entered for Question 5
With an additional years of service that might be purchased in the future, which you entered for Question 6

Option A

 
 
Your retirement age factor:
x Years 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.:
% of salary average:
+ Retirement Plus %, if applicableIf you are participating in RetirementPlus, and you have 30 or more years of creditable service--at least 20 of which are teaching service with the MTRS or the Boston Retirement System--you receive an additional 2% for each full year of creditable service over 24 years.:
Allowable % of salary average:
x 3-year salary average:
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 8, 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 2.99%, which was the average rate of inflation for the 28 year period from 1990 to 2018. 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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