Check with TRAEstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with TRA (800-657-3669) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly check
Fill in the form and we'll show your tier, your monthly benefit, the early-retirement cut, the date it's unreduced, your first increase, and what working longer would add.
Your road to an unreduced benefit
Retire as planned, or work longer?
Your check at every age
Examples to try
Tap one to load it into the calculator. The first is Minnesota TRA's own example; the others are our illustrations with an $80,000 high-five.
- Minnesota TRA's example, age 65 with 20 years: $75,000 × 38% = $28,500 a year, $2,375 a month. minnesotatra.org, Pension basics, Calculation example
- Tier II, age 60 with 30 years (60-and-30): 13.05% cut, $3,188.01 a month.
- Tier I, age 58 with 32 years (Rule of 90): Step formula, no cut, $3,560.00 a month.
- Tier II, age 62 with 25 years: regular 21% cut, $2,449.00 a month.
Newer law than the handbook
Minnesota TRA's member handbook is dated April 2022, before the 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 law changes to retirement ages, early-retirement cuts and yearly increases. Where they differ, we use the 2026 Minnesota Statutes and TRA's newer publications (its website, newsletters, 2025 financial report and actuarial valuation).
TRA Handbook (2022), pp. 14-17, 21; Minn. Stat. 354.44 (2026); Minn. Stat. 356.415, subd. 1d (2026)Tier I with 30 years Check with TRA
For Tier I members with 30 years, the law says the Step formula reduction stops at 62. TRA's 2025 financial report and actuarial valuation say 60.
We use the statute (62).
Minn. Stat. 354.44, subd. 6(c)(2) (2026)Common questions
How is a Minnesota TRA pension calculated?
Your high-five average salary times a percentage for each year of service. Tier II uses the Level formula: 1.7% a year for service before July 1, 2006 and 1.9% after. Tier I members (first hired before July 1, 1989) are also figured under the Step formula, which pays less for the first ten years, and get whichever is higher. Divide by 12 for the monthly amount.
Am I Tier I or Tier II?
Tier I if you first became a TRA member, or a member of another listed Minnesota public fund, before July 1, 1989. Tier II if you joined after June 30, 1989.
When is my benefit unreduced?
At 65 for everyone. Tier I's Step formula is also unreduced at 62 with 30 years, or once your age plus service reaches 90 (the Rule of 90).
What is 60-and-30?
If you retire at 60 or older, on or after June 30, 2025, with at least 30 years of service, the Level formula's early cut is much smaller: 5% a year with augmentation added back. At 60 that's a 13.05% cut (15.14% if you started work after June 30, 2006) instead of 35%.
Is this the official TRA calculator?
No. This is an unofficial estimate built from Minnesota TRA's publications and the 2026 Minnesota Statutes. It isn't affiliated with the Teachers Retirement Association. myTRA has official estimates, and TRA decides your benefit. TRA's phone number is 800-657-3669.
Compare Minnesota with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security: TRA's Coordinated members are covered by Social Security, and nearly all TRA members are Coordinated.
- Teacher DROP plans by state: No. TRA has no DROP.
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: Each January 1: 1.3% in 2026, 1.4% in 2027, 1.5% from 2028. Retiring now, your first comes the year after you turn 65.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: TRA benefits are taxable Minnesota income, except the part that returns your after-tax contributions.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: 1.9% a year for service from July 2006, 1.7% before. Tier I members may get a Step formula instead. Average of your best 5 years in a row.
- Teacher retirement age by state: Age 65 for all members. Tier I also: 62 with 30 years, or the Rule of 90 (age + years = 90).
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
Tier I or Tier II?Joined before July 1, 1989? You get the greater of the Step and Level formulas and the Rule of 90.→The benefit formulaHigh-five average × 1.7% or 1.9% a year, the Tier I Step rates, and TRA's worked example.→Early retirementThe Level cut (35% at 60), Tier I's 0.25% a month Step cut and the Rule of 90, with tables by age.→The 60-and-30 ruleRetire at 60 with 30 years from June 2025 and the cut falls to about 13%. How augmentation works.→Buying service creditLeaves, prior military service, out-of-state and part-time teaching, and combined service.→Minnesota TRA glossaryPlain-English definitions of the TRA terms you'll run into.→
Planning your exit
Leaving teachingThree-year vesting, a deferred benefit at 55 or later, or a refund of your contributions plus interest.→Taxes on your Minnesota TRA pensionFederal and Minnesota tax, out-of-state retirees, and who can use the public pension subtraction.→Social Security and Minnesota TRACoordinated members earn both; where Social Security's age still matters.→
After you retire
Working after retirementThe 90-day break from 2027, Return-to-Work Agreements at 59 1/2, and the $46,000 limit. There's no DROP.→Yearly increases (COLA)1.3% to 1.5% each January, and the wait until after 65 for anyone retiring from July 2024.→Retiree healthWhat Minnesota TRA's publications say (and don't) about health coverage after you retire.→Survivor benefitsWhat your family receives before and after you retire, and disability benefits.→
More calculators
Minnesota TRA has no DROP program. These pages cover Coordinated members of the Teachers Retirement Association. Teachers in St. Paul Public Schools and at the University of Minnesota are in other plans, and former Minneapolis basic members keep their old fund's rules; we don't model those. Actuarial valuation (July 1, 2025), p. 71, Coordinated Members: Eligibility ('except for teachers employed by St. Paul Public Schools or by the University of Minnesota')
Source: TRA Handbook of Benefits and Services, April 2022, with 2023-2026 law changes from Minnesota Statutes 2026 and TRA's 2025-2026 publications, TRA Handbook (April 2022) pp. 15, 15-16, 16. Also: Actuarial valuation (July 1, 2025) pp. 74-75; minnesotatra.org; Minn. Stat. §§ 354.05, 354.44 (2026). Last reviewed .