Years of service
×
All creditable service, including service you buy.
Handbook (2026), p. 29, Retirement Benefit Formula; Seminar slides (Sept. 24, 2025), slide 21Percentage value
1.6%–1.68%
a year, by your age or years of service at retirement.
Handbook (2026), p. 30, Percentage Value for a Year of Retirement Credit; Pension Plan SPD (July 1, 2026), p. 5, Benefit Calculation; Seminar slides (Sept. 24, 2025), slide 24AFC
5 or 8 years
Your highest fiscal years of pay, averaged.
Handbook (2026), p. 29, Average Final Compensation; Pension Plan SPD (July 1, 2026), p. 5, Benefit CalculationThe percentage-value chart
Your rate is the highest row you reach by either age or years of service on your retirement date. Below the first row (early retirement) the rate is 1.6%.
Initially enrolled before July 1, 2011
| At age | Or years | Rate a year |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | 30 | 1.6% |
| 63 | 31 | 1.63% |
| 64 | 32 | 1.65% |
| 65 | 33 | 1.68% |
Initially enrolled on or after July 1, 2011
| At age | Or years | Rate a year |
|---|---|---|
| 65 | 33 | 1.6% |
| 66 | 34 | 1.63% |
| 67 | 35 | 1.65% |
| 68 | 36 | 1.68% |
The handbook, SPD and seminar deck set the Regular Class percentage value by your age or years of service at retirement (age 63 or 31 years: 1.63%, and so on). F.S. 121.091(1)(a)1. ties the higher rates to complete years after your normal retirement date. They differ for a member who vests late: someone enrolled before July 1, 2011 who vests at 66 reaches normal retirement at 66, so under the statute's wording the rate is 1.60%, but on the handbook's chart it is 1.68%.
We follow the handbook's chart.
Handbook (2026), p. 30; Pension Plan SPD (July 1, 2026), p. 5; Seminar slides (Sept. 24, 2025), slide 24; F.S. 121.091(1)(a)1.
The chart says 'retirement at age 63 or 31 years' without saying whether age 63 means the birthday itself or the first of the birth month, or whether 31 years means complete years.
We count age from the first of your birth month (how FRS dates normal retirement by age) and whole years of service.
What would settle it: An FRS estimate for a member retiring in the birth month, or the Division's answer.
What the chart is worth on $50,000
Our illustration: 25 years of service on a $50,000 AFC, enrolled before July 1, 2011, retiring at each age on the chart.
| Age | Rate | A year | A month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | 1.6% | $20,000 | $1,666.67 |
| 63 | 1.63% | $20,375 | $1,697.92 |
| 64 | 1.65% | $20,625 | $1,718.75 |
| 65 | 1.68% | $21,000 | $1,750.00 |
FRS's examples
From FRS's "Understanding Your Benefits" seminar slides, each with an AFC of $25,000:
Average final compensation
Add your 5 (or 8) highest fiscal years of pay and divide. AFC can include lump-sum annual leave payouts up to 500 hours; it excludes lump-sum sick leave payments, retirement incentive bonuses and annual leave over 500 hours.
Handbook (2026), p. 29, Average Final Compensation; Pension Plan SPD (July 1, 2026), p. 5, Benefit Calculation; Handbook (2026), p. 29, Average Final Compensation; Seminar slides (Sept. 24, 2025), slide 26FRS's example: the a member retiring effective Jan. 1, 2019, with an annual leave payout. Its last fiscal year (2019) is a 0.5 year of credit and includes $6,900 of annual leave. The best five years of credit total $144,400, so the AFC is $144,400 ÷ 5 = $28,880. Without the payout it's $27,500.
| Fiscal year | Credit | Counted |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 0.5 | $21,900 |
| 2018 | 1 | $29,000 |
| 2017 | 1 | $28,000 |
| 2016 | 1 | $27,000 |
| 2015 | 1 | $26,000 |
| 2014 | 0.5 | $12,500 |
| Total | 5 | $144,400 |
FRS's seminar deck works an AFC with an annual leave payout: five fiscal years totaling $144,400, which it shows as an AFC of $28,800. $144,400 divided by 5 is $28,880. The same slide's AFC without the leave payout ($27,500) adds up.
We use the arithmetic ($28,880) and treat $28,800 as a typo.
Seminar slides (Sept. 24, 2025), slide 27
The cap
Your starting benefit can't be more than 100% of your AFC. Handbook (2026), p. 52, Limitation of Benefits; F.S. 121.091(1)
Other classes
- Special Risk Class, service from Oct. 1, 1974: 3% a year
- Senior Management Service Class: 2% a year
- Teachers' Retirement System Plan E (no Social Security): 2% a year
The facts
- The formula: years of creditable service x percentage value x average final compensation = your yearly Option 1 benefit. Divide by 12 for the monthly amount.Handbook (2026), p. 29, Retirement Benefit Formula
- Enrolled before July 1, 2011: 1.60% a year of service for retirement at 62 or 30 years; 1.63% at 63 or 31 years; 1.65% at 64 or 32 years; 1.68% at 65 or 33 years.Handbook (2026), p. 30, Percentage Value for a Year of Retirement Credit
- Enrolled on or after July 1, 2011: 1.60% at 65 or 33 years; 1.63% at 66 or 34; 1.65% at 67 or 35; 1.68% at 68 or 36.Handbook (2026), p. 30, Percentage Value for a Year of Retirement Credit
- FRS's example: AFC $25,000 x 1.60% x 30 years = $12,000 a year, or $1,000 a month.Seminar slides (Sept. 24, 2025), slide 29
- Check with FRSOur calculator counts age from the first of your birth month and service in whole years when picking your percentage value. The chart does not say exactly how age is counted.The chart says 'retirement at age 63 or 31 years' without defining the counting.Handbook (2026), p. 30
- Your average final compensation is your highest 5 (or 8) fiscal years, each July 1 to June 30. It can include a lump-sum annual leave payout of up to 500 hours; it excludes sick leave payouts, retirement bonuses and annual leave over 500 hours.Handbook (2026), p. 29, Average Final Compensation
- Your starting benefit cannot be more than 100% of your AFC.Handbook (2026), p. 52, Limitation of Benefits
- Service in other classes keeps its own value: Special Risk 3.00%, Senior Management 2.00%, old Teachers' Retirement System Plan E 2.00%.Handbook (2026), pp. 30-31
What you pay
Regular Class members pay 3% of pay, pre-tax. Required employee contribution for Regular Class members in both plans, pre-tax since July 1, 2011. DROP participants pay none. Handbook (2026), p. 23, Contributions; Pension Plan SPD (July 1, 2026), p. 3, Contributions
Next: early retirement or one more year.
Questions
What is the FRS Pension Plan formula?
Years of creditable service × percentage value × average final compensation = your yearly Option 1 benefit. Divide by 12 for the monthly amount.
What is the Regular Class percentage value?
1.6% a year for retirement at 62 or 30 years (enrolled before July 1, 2011), rising to 1.68% at 65 or 33 years. For members enrolled on or after, the same rates apply 3 years later.
What is average final compensation?
The average of your 5 (enrolled before July 1, 2011) or 8 highest fiscal years of pay, each July 1 to June 30.
Is there a maximum?
Yes: your starting benefit can't be more than 100% of your AFC.
Source: FRS Pension Plan Member Handbook, 2026 Edition, pp. 23, 29, 30-31, 52. Also: Seminar slides (Sept. 24, 2025), slides 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30; Pension Plan SPD (July 1, 2026), pp. 3, 5; F.S. 121.091. Last reviewed .