Check with TFFREstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with TFFR (800-952-2970) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly check
Fill in the form and we'll show your tier, your single life benefit, the date it's unreduced, what retiring early costs, and what one more year adds. The formula is your final average monthly salary × years of service × 2%.
Your road to a full benefit
Retire as planned, or work longer?
Your check at every age
After you retire
Try the handbook's examples
Tap a link to load it into the calculator. The handbook gives the ages and service; the $60,000 final average salary is ours.
- Tier 1 Grandfathered, age 55 with 30 years: the Rule of 85, no cut, $3,000.00 a month. Handbook p. 17
- Tier 2, age 60 with 30 years: the Rule of 90 at the minimum age, $3,000.00 a month. Handbook p. 17
- Our example: Tier 2 at 59 with 31 years. Age plus service is 90, but you must be 60: 12 months early, 8.0004% less, $2,851.99 a month. Handbook p. 18, Early Retirement; NDCC 15-39.1-12; NDAC 82-05-04-01; Valuation (2026) p. 37, Early Retirement
Your service on June 30, 2013 Check with TFFR
Grandfathering depends on service on June 30, 2013, which the calculator does not know. If the user does not give it (or a grandfathered flag), we estimate it as one year per fiscal year from the membership date, capped at total service.
What we do: user input; otherwise full-time continuous service from the membership date
What would settle it: The member's tier status on their MyTFFR account summary or benefit estimate (Retirement Guide p. 3).A mid-month retirement date and the early cut Check with TFFR
NDAC 82-05-04-01 reduces 'for each month' the early retirement date precedes the reference date. With a mid-month (15th) retirement date the gap includes a half month; the rule does not say whether it counts.
What we do: a partial month counts as a full month (larger reduction)
What would settle it: A MyTFFR benefit estimate for a 15th-of-the-month retirement date, or RIO's written answer.Common questions
What is TFFR?
The Teachers' Fund for Retirement, North Dakota's pension plan for licensed teachers and administrators. The Retirement and Investment Office (RIO) administers it. You're vested after 3 years (Tier 1) or 5 years (Tier 2).
How is my pension calculated?
Your final average monthly salary × years of service credit × 2%. Final average salary is the average of your 3 (Tier 1) or 5 (Tier 2) highest fiscal-year salaries.
When can I retire without a cut?
At 65, or earlier under a rule: Tier 1 Grandfathered when age plus service reaches 85; Tier 1 Non-grandfathered and Tier 2 when age plus service reaches 90 and you're at least 60.
Can I retire early?
Yes, from 55 once vested, with a permanent cut: 6% a year (Tier 1 Grandfathered) or 8% a year (the others) before your unreduced date, counted by the month.
Does my pension get a cost-of-living raise?
No automatic one. TFFR has no COLA provision; increases have come only when the Legislature granted them.
Is this the official TFFR calculator?
No. It's an unofficial estimate built from the TFFR Member Handbook and North Dakota law, not affiliated with TFFR or RIO. TFFR decides your benefit. RIO's number is 800-952-2970.
Compare North Dakota with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security
- Teacher DROP plans by state: No. TFFR has no DROP or similar program.
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: No automatic COLA. The Legislature has granted occasional increases; the last were 0.75% in 2001 and 2002.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: TFFR benefits are taxed by North Dakota as ordinary income.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: 2% × years of service × average of your highest 3 years (Tier 1) or 5 years (Tier 2).
- Teacher retirement age by state: Age 65 once vested. Earlier: Tier 1 Grandfathered, age + years = 85. Others: age + years = 90, from age 60.
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
Which tier am I?Tier 1 Grandfathered, Tier 1 Non-grandfathered or Tier 2: the July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2013 tests.→The formulaFinal average salary × service × 2%, the 3- or 5-year average and service credit by the hour.→Early retirementFrom 55, cut 0.5% or 0.6667% a month before the Rule of 85, the Rule of 90 at 60, or age 65.→Buying service creditRefunded service, up to 5 years of air time, out-of-state and private teaching, leave and military.→TFFR glossaryPlain-English definitions of tiers, FAS, the PLSO and other TFFR terms.→
Planning your exit
Leaving: refund or wait?The 120-day refund wait, 6% interest, and drawing a deferred pension once vested.→Taxes on your pensionFederal and North Dakota tax, no TFFR subtraction in the 2025 booklet, and the tax-free part of each payment.→TFFR and Social SecurityWhat the TFFR handbook says: you may be eligible for both.→
After you retire
Working after retirement30 days, then 700 to 1,000 hours a year; critical shortage areas after a year. There's no DROP.→No automatic COLATFFR has no automatic cost-of-living raise; what the sources say about past increases.→Retiree health insuranceNDPERS group insurance for TFFR retirees, with premiums taken from your benefit.→Survivor and disability benefitsAccount value or a lifetime annuity before retirement, what each option pays after, disability and divorce.→
More calculators
These pages cover TFFR members: licensed teachers, administrators and special teachers. School staff who aren't licensed teachers (aides, secretaries, custodians, drivers) are in NDPERS instead, with different rules. Valuation (2026) p. 35, Membership; Handbook pp. 4-5, Dual Membership; NDCC 15-39.1-09(3), (4); 15-39.1-10.3
Source: Teachers' Fund for Retirement Member Handbook, 5/7/2026, pp. 3-4, 4-5, 17, 18-19, 21-22, 23, 25, 43, 45. Also: Retirement Guide (2023); Tiers info sheet; Valuation (2026); NDCC 15-39.1-04, 15-39.1-09, 15-39.1-10, 15-39.1-10.3, 15-39.1-12; NDAC 82-05-03-01, 82-05-04-01. Last reviewed .