Check with TPSEstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with TPS (410-625-5555) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly check
Fill in the form and we'll show your monthly pension, the first day you get it with no early cut, your payment options in dollars, and what working longer would add.
Your early cut, worked out
Your road to a full pension
Retire as planned, or later?
Your check at every age
Your cost-of-living increases
If you go back to work
Common questions
ACPS or RCPB: which am I in?
If you joined the TPS before July 1, 2011, you're in the ACPS (Alternate Contributory Pension Selection). On or after that date, the RCPB (Reformed Contributory Pension Benefit). Your Personal Statement of Benefits and mySRPS both say which.
How is a TPS pension calculated?
ACPS: 1.2% of your average final compensation for each year through June 30, 1998, plus 1.8% for each year after, using your highest 3 years in a row. RCPB: 1.5% a year, using your highest 5 years in a row. In the ACPS handbook's example, 28 years and a $88,000 average pay $3,432 a month.
When can I retire with a full pension?
ACPS: at 62 with 5 years, or with 30 years at any age. RCPB: at 65 with 10 years, or when your age plus service adds up to 90 (the Rule of 90).
How much does retiring early cost?
0.5% for each month before your 62th birthday (ACPS, up to 42%) or 65th birthday (RCPB, up to 30%). That's 6% a year, for life. Early retirement needs 15 years and age 55 (ACPS) or 60 (RCPB).
Do TPS retirees get raises?
Yes, a cost-of-living adjustment each July 1, tied to prices and capped. ACPS service before July 2011 is capped at 3%. Later service, and all RCPB service, is capped at 2.5%, or 1% when the pension fund misses its assumed return.
Does the TPS have a DROP?
No. The TPS handbooks describe no DROP. In Maryland's state systems, DROPs are only for certain public safety plans.
Is this the official TPS calculator?
No. This is an unofficial estimate built from the TPS handbooks. It isn't affiliated with the Maryland State Retirement Agency (SRA). mySRPS has official estimates, and SRA decides your benefit.
Compare Maryland with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security
- Teacher DROP plans by state: No. The Teachers' Pension System has no DROP.
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: Joined July 2011 or later: a yearly CPI raise each July, capped at 2.5% (1% if the fund missed its return). It compounds.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: Your TPS pension is subject to Maryland income tax.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: ACPS: 1.8% a year (1.2% for service before July 1998), best 3 years in a row. RCPB: 1.5% a year, best 5 years in a row.
- Teacher retirement age by state: Newest plan (RCPB): 65 with 10 years, or age + years = 90. ACPS: 62 with 5 years, or 30 years at any age.
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
ACPS or RCPB?One date decides your plan. The two side by side, and returning members.→The pension formula1.2%/1.8% (ACPS) or 1.5% (RCPB) × average pay × years, with the handbooks' examples.→Retiring earlyThe 0.5% a month cut, and a table by age for ACPS and RCPB.→Buying service and sick leaveNormal and full cost, military credit, transfers, and sick days to service.→Maryland TPS glossaryPlain-English definitions of the TPS terms you'll run into.→
Planning your exit
After you retire
Working after retirementThe 45-day wait, the earnings limit, and who's exempt.→COLA: prices, with a capThe 3%, 2.5% and 1% caps, and when your first increase comes.→Health insurance in retirementWho provides it (your employer, not SRA) and how your option protects a spouse.→Death and survivor benefitsWhat your family receives before and after you retire.→
More calculators
Some states have a DROP program. The TPS doesn't: (SRPS DROPs exist only for the State Police and Law Enforcement Officers' systems.) To plan your last years of work, see One more year?
Source: SRPS Benefits Handbooks: Teachers' Pension System (Alternate Contributory Pension Selection; Reformed Contributory Pension Benefit), Revised April 2021, ACPS Handbook pp. 1, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 38; RCPB Handbook pp. 1, 11, 12, 18, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36; ACFR FY2025 pp. 166, 167; Options Pamphlet PDF pp. 1, 2; SRA web pages; SRA option factor table (eff. 1/1/2022). Last reviewed .