Check with Mississippi PERSEstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with Mississippi PERS (800-444-7377) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly check
Fill in the form and we'll show your tier, your Maximum Retirement Allowance, any early-retirement reduction, the date you reach a full benefit, your yearly COLA, your payment options and what working longer would add.
Your road to a full benefit
Retire as planned, or work longer?
Your check at every age
Your COLA
Reduced Tier 4 and Tier 5 amounts, Options 1 to 4B and the PLSO factors are labeled "Check with Mississippi PERS": Mississippi PERS doesn't publish those factors, or they may be out of date.
The handbooks' own examples
Mississippi PERS works these examples. Tap one to load it into the calculator.
- Handbook p. 27, Tiers 1-3: age 60, 30 years, $31,500: Mississippi PERS shows $1,640.63 a month; our calculator gives $1,640.63. Member Handbook (2024), p. 27, Example Figures (Tiers 1-3)
- Handbook p. 27, Tier 4: age 60, 30 years, $31,500: Mississippi PERS shows $1,575.00 a month; our calculator gives $1,575.00. Member Handbook (2024), p. 27, Example Figures (Tier 4)
- Hybrid Plan fact sheet, Tier 5: 30 years, $65,000: Mississippi PERS shows $1,625.00 a month; our calculator gives $1,625.00. Hybrid Plan Fact Sheet (2026), p. 1, Defined Benefit Calculation Example
The handbook's COLA example: a $750 monthly benefit after 16 full fiscal years earns a $5,026.50 COLA in Tiers 1-3 and $4,561.20 in Tier 4, the same as our engine. Member Handbook (2024), p. 29, Example Figures (Tiers 1-3); Retiree Handbook (2026), p. 13 See the COLA.
Common questions
How is a Mississippi PERS pension calculated?
Your average compensation (the four highest years of pay) × your Service Credit Factor. In Tiers 1-3 that is 2% a year for the first 25 years, then 2.5% for each year after; in Tier 4, 2% a year for the first 30 years, then 2.5% for each year after; in Tier 5, 1% a year for every year. Divide by 12 for the monthly Maximum Retirement Allowance.
When can I retire from Mississippi PERS?
Tiers 1-3: at any age with 25 years, or at 60 once vested. Tier 4: at any age with 30 years, or at 65; reduced from 60. Tier 5: at any age with 30 years, or at 65; reduced from 62.
How much is the Tier 4 early-retirement reduction?
Mississippi PERS doesn't publish it. The law says only that it's an actuarial reduction for each year you're short of 30 years or of age 65, whichever is fewer. This calculator shows the full amount as the most you could get, and the number of years of reduction.
What is the 13th check?
The yearly 3% COLA for Tiers 1-4, paid in one lump sum around December 15 unless you choose 12 monthly payments. Tier 5 (Hybrid Plan) members don't get a yearly COLA.
Which tier is a new teacher in?
Anyone who joins Mississippi PERS on or after March 1, 2026 is in Tier 5, the Hybrid Plan: 1% a year of service plus a savings account of their own.
Is this the official Mississippi PERS calculator?
No. This is an unofficial estimate built from the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi's handbooks, its Board regulations and Mississippi law. It isn't affiliated with Mississippi PERS. Mississippi PERS's phone number is 800-444-7377.
Compare Mississippi with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security: PERS treats Social Security as one leg of retirement income, but its sources don't say outright that all teachers are covered.
- Teacher DROP plans by state: No. Mississippi PERS has no DROP.
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: Tier 5 (joined March 2026 or later): no yearly COLA, though lawmakers may grant extra. Tiers 1-4: 3% a year.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: Mississippi PERS benefits are not subject to Mississippi state income tax.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: Tiers 1-4: 2% a year, then 2.5% after 25 years (30 for Tier 4). Tier 5 (hybrid, from March 2026): 1%. Best 4 years.
- Teacher retirement age by state: Tiers 1-3: 25 years at any age, or 60 once vested. Tiers 4 and 5: 30 years at any age, or 65 once vested.
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
Which tier am I?Tiers 1 to 5 by membership date: when you can retire, your formula, vesting and COLA.→Tier 5: the Hybrid PlanJoined on or after March 1, 2026: a 1% pension plus your own account, no COLA, no PLSO.→The benefit formulaAverage compensation × the Service Credit Factor, 2% then 2.5%, with the handbook's example.→Early retirement in Tiers 4 and 5The reduction for each year short of 30 years or age 65, and why no dollar figure is published.→Buying service creditOut-of-state, non-covered and military service, unused leave, and repaying a refund.→Mississippi PERS glossaryPlain-English definitions of average compensation, the Service Credit Factor, the 13th check and more.→
Planning your exit
Leaving: refund or wait?When you can withdraw your contributions, taxes, and a deferred pension if you're vested.→Taxes on your pensionNo Mississippi income tax on Mississippi PERS benefits; federal tax and withholding.→Mississippi PERS and Social SecurityWhat Mississippi PERS's guides say, and what they don't.→
After you retire
Working after retirementH.B. 4073 from July 1, 2026: a 30-day wait, the half-time and 25% limits, and the 80% option.→The COLA and the 13th check3% a year, simple then compounded from 55 or 60, paid in December or monthly.→Retiree health insuranceDFA runs the state plan; what Mississippi PERS deducts and sponsors.→Death and survivor benefitsSpouse and children's benefits, duty-related death, and Form 16.→
More calculators
Mississippi PERS has no DROP (deferred retirement option plan): none appears in its handbooks. The closest feature is the Partial Lump Sum Option. Member Handbook (2024), pp. 5, 30 (table of contents and option list have no DROP) These pages cover Mississippi PERS members in Tiers 1 to 5. University employees in the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) have a different plan. Member Handbook (2024), p. 7; Mississippi PERS Board Regulation 60 (amended July 1, 2026), § 104
Source: Mississippi PERS Member Handbook, Revised November 8, 2024, pp. 3, 5, 7, 12, 15, 24, 25, 27, 28-29, 29, 30, 49, 62, 63. Also: Hybrid Plan Handbook (2026); Retirement Tiers Overview; Summary of Major Plan Provisions (2024); Mississippi PERS 2024 annual report; Retiree Handbook (2026); Hybrid Plan Fact Sheet (2026); Mississippi PERS Board Regulations 30, 48, 60; Miss. Code Ann. §§ 25-11-103, 25-11-111. Last reviewed .