This page explains the TRS of Georgia calculator. The rules it uses are in plain English on the formula, early retirement and PLOP pages.
- 1
Project your service
We add the time from today to your retirement date to the service you enter, one year per year (not if your account is inactive). Then we add unused sick leave (20 days = 1 month, 9 months = 1 year, at least 60 days) and any Air Time.
Member's Guide p. 17, Unused Sick Leave - 2
Check eligibility
Full pension with 30 years at any age, or at 60 with 10 years (sick leave and Air Time don't count toward those 10). Reduced pension with 25 years under 60, with an active account.
Member's Guide p. 5, Eligibility for Retirement Benefits: Service Retirement - 3
Apply the formula
2% × years (up to 40) × your final average salary ÷ 12. That's the Maximum Plan. At least $17 a month per year of service.
Member's Guide p. 6, Retirement Benefit Formula - 4
Take the early cut
The smaller of 7/12 of 1% per month under 60 and 7% per year (or part) short of 30 years.
Member's Guide p. 5, Eligibility for Retirement Benefits: Service Retirement - 5
Work out the PLOP
1 to 36 months of the Maximum Plan, in $1,000 steps, times the published reduction per $1,000 for your age. Never below 50% of the Maximum Plan.
trsga.com, Partial Lump Sum Option Plan (PLOP), Benefit Reduction Table - 6
Project COLAs
1.5% each January 1 and July 1 from your first COLA date, compounded, assuming every one is granted.
Member's Guide pp. 21-22, Cost-of-Living Adjustments
What the calculator doesn't cover
- Your final average salary. We use the number you enter. TRS of Georgia figures it from your records, including the raise limit for members since July 1, 1984.
- Plan B option amounts (Options 1 to 4). TRS of Georgia doesn't publish the factors.
- Disability retirement, death-in-service benefits and the 1961 guarantee.
- The cost of buying service, including Air Time.
- Taxes, SHBP premiums or other deductions from your check.
- IRS Section 415 benefit limits.
Assumptions you should know
The "work longer" comparison keeps your salary average the same. The retirement date you enter is the day your pension starts; TRS of Georgia retirements start on the 1st of a month. Age is counted in whole months.
How we check the math
The calculator runs on a small engine that reads every rule from one data file, with a source cite for each rule. Automated tests check it against the examples TRS of Georgia prints. They run every time the site is built.
| TRS of Georgia example | TRS of Georgia shows | Our engine | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sample estimate: 30 years, $5,833.33/mo average | $3,500.00 | $3,500.00 | Pre-Retirement Handout p. 4, Sample Benefit Estimate Match |
| Sample estimate: PLOP range | $4,000–$126,000 | $4,000–$126,000 | Pre-Retirement Handout p. 4, Sample Benefit Estimate Match |
| PLOP, age 60, $50,000 | $2,924.50 | $2,924.50 | trsga.com, Partial Lump Sum Option Plan (PLOP), Distribution Example Match |
| PLOP, age 57, $50,000 | $3,659.00 | $3,659.00 | PLOP brochure (undated), A PLOP Example Match |
TRS of Georgia publishes no worked early-retirement example or early-cut table, so the early cut is tested against the written rule only. See Retiring early.
Things to check with TRS of Georgia
The sources we have don't settle these points, or disagree with each other. Each is labeled "Check with TRS of Georgia" where it shows up on the site. Here's what we do about each one.
The early cut is 7/12 of 1% for each month you are under 60. The sources don't say how a part month counts when your 60th birthday isn't on the 1st.
What we use: a part month counts as a full month. If TRS of Georgia counts it differently, its cut could be 7/12 of 1% smaller.
We found no table of early retirement cuts on the TRS of Georgia website or in its guides. Only the rule is published.
What we use: the rule as written: the smaller of the age cut and the service cut.
Retirements start on the 1st of a month. The sources don't say whether you can start on the 1st of the month you turn 60, before your birthday.
What we use: the 1st of the month on or after your 60th birthday.
TRS of Georgia doesn't publish the factors that set Options 1 to 4. They depend on your age and your beneficiary's age. The only figures are one sample estimate.
What we use: we show the Maximum Plan amount and the sample estimate's percentages as a guide only. Get your real Plan B amounts from TRS of Georgia.
The published PLOP table says the Maximum Plan drops $7.41 a month for each $1,000 at age 59. TRS of Georgia's own sample estimate for a 59-year-old shows $6.57. Both can't be current.
What we use: the published table. Both TRS of Georgia PLOP examples match it.
The PLOP page says a PLOP can't cut your benefit 'by fifty percent or more', and also can't leave less than 50%. The two disagree when exactly 50% is left.
What we use: a PLOP may leave exactly 50% of the Maximum Plan amount.
The PLOP table goes by whole age. The sources don't say if that's your age at your last birthday on the retirement date.
What we use: your age in whole years on your retirement date. Both examples fit that.
The $17 a month per year minimum is described for the Maximum Plan. The sources don't say if it applies before or after an early cut.
What we use: the minimum as a floor after the early cut. It only matters at very low salaries.
The website says 25-year early retirement needs an active account. The sources don't say if someone with 30 years and an inactive account can retire before 60.
What we use: 30 years works with an inactive account; only the 25-year early option is blocked.
You need 25 years of service to buy Air Time. The sources don't say if unused sick leave counts toward those 25 years.
What we use: sick leave counts toward the 25 years; Air Time itself doesn't.
The guide says your 2nd high year is compared to your 1st after the 1st is adjusted. It gives no worked example.
What we use: we don't apply the raise limit in the calculator. You enter your final average salary. Ask TRS of Georgia for yours.
The newest TRS of Georgia figure we found for the IRS pay limit is $345,000 for fiscal 2025. Later limits weren't in the sources.
What we use: $345,000. It only matters if you joined on or after July 1, 1996 and earn more than that.
Early retirees get COLAs only after they reach 60 or the date they'd have had 30 years. The sources don't say if the first COLA is the first Jan. 1 or July 1 on or after that date, or the one after.
What we use: the first Jan. 1 or July 1 on or after that date.
COLAs depend on the Consumer Price Index and aren't automatic. Future increases could be smaller or skipped.
What we use: a projection that assumes every 1.5% increase is granted.
The $35,000 and $65,000 exclusion amounts come from a February 2023 state audit summary, not from TRS of Georgia or the Department of Revenue. They may have changed.
What we use: those amounts, shown as dated. Check the Georgia Department of Revenue for this year.
Two TRS of Georgia notices give the same employer rate (22.32%) and the same raise limits for different years. That may be right, or one page may have been copied.
What we use: 22.32% and 4.86%, as published. Neither changes your pension amount.
TRS of Georgia shows service to three decimals (like 25.667 years). The sources don't say how part years are rounded in the formula.
What we use: your service years exactly as you enter them.
Sources
- Teachers Retirement System of Georgia Member's Guide 06/26 (back cover date; PDF modified June 16, 2026)
- Start Thinking About Retirement (Pre-Retirement Handout) PDF modified Oct. 10, 2024 (created Dec. 13, 2022); sample estimate dated for a 06/01/2025 retirement
- TRS of Georgia Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year ended June 30, 2026 FY2026 (file 'TRS ACFR 2026 Final_Protected.pdf')
- TRS of Georgia Actuarial Valuation Report as of June 30, 2025 (Schedule H - Main Plan Provisions) June 30, 2025 valuation
- Partial Lump-Sum Option (PLOP) brochure undated (single image; hand-transcribed)
- TRS of Georgia memo: FY 2027 Salary Limitations / FY 2028 Contribution Rates May 14, 2026 (scanned; hand-transcribed)
- TRS of Georgia memo: Annual Earnable Compensation and Benefit Limitations Nov. 3, 2023 (FY2025 compensation limit; superseded figures)
- SB 150 (Teacher Return to Work) FAQs for Local School Systems 2026 (undated; SB 150 effective July 1, 2026)
- Working After Retirement Chart (HB 385 version) 080824 (superseded by Member's Guide 06/26 Appendix C, which reflects SB 150)
- trsga.com web pages (saved Nov. 11, 2026) retrieved 2026-11-11
- Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, Tax Incentive Evaluation: Retirement Income Exclusion (summary) February 2023
Member's Guide, ACFR and valuation page numbers are the printed page numbers; the Pre-Retirement Handout uses PDF pages. We could not get an open copy of the Official Code of Georgia (Title 47, Chapter 3), so no rule has been checked against the law yet. Last reviewed Nov. 12, 2026.
Source: Teachers Retirement System of Georgia Member's Guide, 06/26, pp. 5, 6, 17, 21, 22; Pre-Retirement Handout p. 4; trsga.com pages; PLOP brochure. Last reviewed .
The Member's Guide (06/26) still describes the WEP and GPO cuts to Social Security. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed Jan. 5, 2025, changed those rules, as TRS of Georgia's own news release says.
What we use: we don't present WEP or GPO as current. Ask Social Security how the 2025 law affects you.