Check with CalSTRSEstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with CalSTRS (800-228-5453) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly check
Fill in the form and we'll show your Member-Only Benefit, your age factor, the date you reach the 2% factor, and what working longer would add.
Your road to a full age factor
Retire as planned, or work longer?
Your check at every age
Compare two retirement dates
Common questions
How is a CalSTRS pension calculated?
Your Member-Only Benefit is your age factor times your years of service credit times your monthly final compensation. The age factor is the percent you earn for each year. It depends on your age when you retire: 2% at 60 in CalSTRS 2% at 60, 2% at 62 in CalSTRS 2% at 62, up to 2.4%.
When can I retire from CalSTRS?
In both structures you can retire at 55 with at least 5 years of service credit. In CalSTRS 2% at 60 you can also retire at 50 with 30 years. Retiring before normal retirement age (60 or 62) means a lower age factor, for life.
Does CalSTRS give a cost-of-living increase?
Yes. Each year you get 2% of your initial benefit added, starting September 1 after the first anniversary of your retirement. It is not compounded.
Is this the official CalSTRS calculator?
No. This is an unofficial estimate built from the CalSTRS Member Handbook. It is not affiliated with CalSTRS. Your myCalSTRS account has the official estimator, and CalSTRS decides your benefit.
Compare California with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security: CalSTRS members don't pay into Social Security for CalSTRS work and won't get Social Security for it.
- Teacher DROP plans by state
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: Automatic 2% of your first benefit each year, starting September 1 after your first year retired. Not compounded.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: California taxes the pension for California residents, and CalSTRS withholds California tax.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: An age-factor table: 2% at 60 or 2% at 62, by structure. Factor × years × your best 12 or 36 months of pay.
- Teacher retirement age by state: Age 60 if you're in 2% at 60 (hired before 2013), or 62 if you're in 2% at 62.
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
2% at 60 or 2% at 62?Your first hire date decides your benefit structure, and what it includes.→Age factor tableThe full CalSTRS age factor tables, month by month, and the formula.→Retiring earlyHow much a lower age factor costs, and the Reduced Benefit Election.→Buying service creditPermissive service and redeposits: what they cost and what they add.→CalSTRS glossaryPlain-English definitions of the CalSTRS terms you'll run into.→
Planning your exit
Leaving teaching: refund or keep your account?What a refund pays, what it gives up, and coming back.→Taxes on your CalSTRS pensionWithholding, rollovers, moving out of California, and required distributions.→Social Security and CalSTRSWhy CalSTRS work has no Social Security, and the 2025 WEP/GPO repeal.→
After you retire
Working after retirementThe 180-day wait, the earnings limit, and reinstating.→The 2% yearly increaseHow the annual benefit adjustment works, and purchasing power protection.→Health coverage in retirementCalSTRS doesn't provide health insurance. Here's what the handbook says instead.→Death and survivor benefitsCoverage A or B, the one-time death benefit, and what a family receives.→
More calculators
Some states have a DROP program. The CalSTRS Member Handbook doesn't describe one. The closest features it does describe are the Reduced Benefit Election (see Retiring early) and the preretirement option election (see Payment options).
Source: CalSTRS Member Handbook, 2026 edition (Jan. 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027), pp. 18, 20, 54, 56, 63, 78, 79, 82, 93. Last reviewed .