Or write to [email protected] yourself. Please include:
- the page address, and what looks wrong;
- where the right answer comes from, if you know (a handbook page, or a letter or statement from your retirement system);
- for a calculator result, what you entered. The address in your browser holds your inputs after the
#; include it only if you're happy to share those numbers.
Please don't send your Social Security number, member ID, date of birth or account details. We never need them.
How fast we respond
- Within 5 business days we reply to every error report.
- Within 2 business days of confirming an error in a number or a rule, the page is fixed. If we can't confirm it quickly, the item gets a "Check with" label (below) until we can.
- The same day it's fixed, the correction is logged on What's changed.
Corrections policy
Every correction to a figure, rule, date or calculator result is listed on What's changed with the label Correction, the date, what was wrong, and a link to the page. The page itself shows the entry under "What changed on this page", next to its "Last reviewed" date. Typos and wording changes that don't change the meaning aren't logged.
Editorial standards and responsibility
Teacher Pension Calculator is an independent publisher. The site's editorial team writes, checks and maintains every page, and is responsible for what each one says. No retirement system, union, employer or financial firm writes, reviews, approves or pays for our content.
- Plain English first. Short sentences, terms explained once, each system's own names for things.
- Every rule is cited to the page or section of its source, shown on the page.
- Every number comes from data taken from the sources, not retyped into a page, so the calculator and the guides can't disagree.
- Calculators are tested against the worked examples in each system's own publications. Each state's "How we calculate" page lists the methods, the tests and the limits.
- We explain; we don't advise. We're not financial advisers, and nothing here is a recommendation about when to retire or which option to choose.
Which sources we use, in order
- The retirement system's current member handbook or plan summary. It's written for members and is what the system applies day to day, so it comes first.
- State statute, for anything the handbook doesn't cover or leaves vague.
- Administrative rules (the state's administrative code) and official tables, such as early-retirement factors.
- Other official publications from the system: forms, newsletters, FAQs, premium sheets and board materials.
If we find two sources that disagree, such as the handbook and the statute, we say so on the page and add a "Check with" label. We don't use forums, other calculators or news stories as sources, except to find a primary source.
What a "Check with" label means
Some pages show a label such as Check with TRS. It means one of these:
- we couldn't confirm the item in a primary source yet;
- the sources disagree or are unclear; or
- the system decides it case by case (for example, the cost of buying service credit).
Where the calculator needs a value for one of these, it uses the assumption the page states. The label stays until the item is confirmed. We never remove it just to make a page look more complete.
How often pages are reviewed
Each state's pages are checked again when the system publishes a new handbook edition, after each legislative session that changes teacher pensions, when new yearly figures come out (such as COLAs or health premiums), and whenever a reader reports a problem. Every page shows its "Last reviewed" date.
Independence and money
The site is free and has no ads today. No retirement system or union pays us, and we don't take payment to cover or leave out any topic. If we add ads, advertisers will have no say over content. We'll update Privacy first.