Check with SDRSEstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with SDRS (605-773-3731) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly check
Fill in the form and we'll show your membership (Foundation or Generational), your monthly benefit, any early retirement cut, your full-benefit date, what working longer adds, your payment options and when your first cost-of-living adjustment comes.
How we got your number
Retire as planned, or work longer?
Your check at every age
Your cost-of-living adjustments
The rules in brief. Foundation: 1.7% of final average compensation a year before July 1, 2008 and 1.55% after; unreduced at 65 or the Rule of 85 (from 55); reduced from 55. Generational: 1.8% a year; unreduced at 67; reduced 5% a year from 57. Vested after 3 years.
The handbook examples
SDRS works these examples in its Foundation and Generational handbooks. Our calculator gets the same yearly amounts. Tap one to load it.
- Foundation member: 30 years (13 before July 2008) at 65, $30,000 final average compensation: $14,535.00 a year in the handbook; ours: $14,535.00. Foundation Handbook (July 2024), p. 11, Normal Retirement Benefit Example
- Foundation member: 18 years (1 before July 2008) at 62, $30,000 final average compensation, 9% early cut: $7,657.65 a year in the handbook; ours: $7,657.65. Foundation Handbook (July 2024), p. 12, Early Retirement Benefit Example
- Generational member: 30 years at 67, $30,000 final average compensation: $16,200.00 a year in the handbook; ours: $16,200.00. Generational Handbook (July 2024), p. 11, Normal Retirement Benefit Example
- Generational member: 30 years at 62, $30,000 final average compensation, 25% early cut: $12,150.00 a year in the handbook; ours: $12,150.00. Generational Handbook (July 2024), p. 11, Early Retirement Benefit Example
A Foundation member who retires at 58 with 25 years is cut 6% under state law, because they'd meet the Rule of 85 at 60. Read as the handbook words it, the cut would be 21%. The calculator shows both. Early retirement.
The Foundation early cut Check with SDRS
The Foundation handbook describes the early retirement cut as 3% a year before age 65. State law and SDRS's actuary stop the cut at the date you would meet the Rule of 85, if that comes first. For members a few years short of the Rule of 85 the law gives a much smaller cut. We show the law's figure and the handbook's figure side by side.
What would settle it: An SDRS benefit estimate for a Foundation member who retires a few years before meeting the Rule of 85 (for example age 58 with 25 years).
How current the handbooks are Check with SDRS
The newest SDRS handbooks we found are dated July 2024. State law has changed a little since (2025 and 2026). We use the handbooks plus the current law.
What would settle it: The current handbook links from the SDRS Publications page.
Common questions
How is an SDRS pension calculated?
Final average compensation × a percentage for each year of credited service. Foundation members (joined before July 1, 2017) earn 1.7% a year for service before July 1, 2008 and 1.55% after. Generational members (joined on or after July 1, 2017) earn 1.8% a year. Final average compensation is your highest 20 consecutive quarters (five years) in your last 40, with raises capped at 105% a year.
When can I retire with a full benefit?
Foundation members: at 65, or earlier under the Rule of 85 (age plus service of at least 85, from age 55). Generational members: at 67. You need 3 years of contributory service to be vested.
Can I retire early?
Yes. Foundation members can start a reduced benefit at 55, Generational members at 57. The Generational cut is 5% a year before 67. The Foundation cut is 0.25% a month (3% a year). State law measures it to the earlier of 65 and your Rule of 85 date, but the handbook words it as a cut to 65. We show both.
Does SDRS have a COLA?
Yes. Benefits rise each July 1 by the CPI-W inflation rate, between 0% and 3.5%, and less when SDRS's funding requires it. The July 2026 COLA was 1.56%. Your first comes after 12 months of payments.
Do South Dakota teachers pay state income tax on their pension?
South Dakota law exempts SDRS benefits from any state, county or local tax. Federal income tax still applies, because your contributions went in before tax.
Is this the official SDRS calculator?
No. This is an unofficial estimate built from the South Dakota Retirement System's Class A handbooks for Foundation and Generational members (July 2024), SDCL chapter 3-12C and SDRS's actuarial valuation and board reports. It isn't affiliated with SDRS, which decides your benefit. SDRS's phone number is 605-773-3731.
Compare South Dakota with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security: SDRS members are covered by Social Security.
- Teacher DROP plans by state: No. SDRS has no DROP or similar plan.
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: Each July 1, inflation (CPI-W) from 0% to 3.5%, capped lower when funding requires. July 2026: 1.56%.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: South Dakota law exempts SDRS benefits from any state, county or local tax.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: Generational: 1.8% a year. Foundation: 1.7% before July 2008, 1.55% after (or an alternate formula). Best 20 quarters in a row of last 40.
- Teacher retirement age by state: Foundation members: 65, or the Rule of 85 (age + years = 85) from age 55. Generational members: age 67.
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
Foundation or Generational?Which SDRS member you are, by the date you joined (July 1, 2017), and how the two differ.→The formula and the 105% cap1.7% / 1.55% or 1.8% × your best five years, the alternate formula, and how the 105% raise cap works.→Early retirement and the Rule of 85Foundation from 55 with the Rule of 85, Generational from 57: the cut by state law and by the handbook, side by side.→Buying service creditPrior public service and up to 5 years of air time: how the cost is set and what a year adds.→SDRS glossaryPlain-English definitions of the SDRS terms you'll run into.→
Planning your exit
Leaving: refund or wait?Vesting at 3 years, refunds with 50% or 85% of the employer's contributions, and leaving the money in.→Taxes on your pensionExempt from South Dakota state and local tax; taxable for federal income tax.→SDRS and Social SecurityYou're covered by both. Where Social Security shows up in SDRS rules, and what the sources don't say.→
After you retire
Working after retirementThe 3-month break, the age 59 1/2 exception and the 1,250-hour line. There's no DROP.→Cost-of-living adjustmentsCPI-W from 0% to 3.5% with a funding cap: 1.56% in July 2026, every COLA since 2011 and your first one.→Retiree health insuranceThe SDRS sources say nothing about retiree health coverage. Who to ask.→Survivor benefitsYour spouse and children before and after you retire: the 60% spouse benefit and the family benefit.→
More calculators
SDRS has no DROP (deferred retirement option plan): none appears in the handbooks, the valuation or SDCL chapter 3-12C. None of the sources describes a DROP or similar deferred retirement plan. Check with SDRS Retirees who go back to work follow the 3-month and 1,250-hour rules instead.
Source: SDRS Class A Handbooks (Foundation and Generational members), July 2024, Foundation pp. 5, 7, 9, 11-13; Generational pp. 9, 11-12. Also: SDRS Actuarial Valuation (June 30, 2024) pp. 53-54, 56; SDRS Update (June 2026) slide 14; SDRS update to the LRC Executive Board (Aug. 26, 2026) slide 7; SDCL §§ 3-12C-101, 3-12C-104, 3-12C-216, 3-12C-704, 3-12C-1106, 3-12C-1110, 3-12C-1111, 3-12C-1204, 3-12C-1207. Last reviewed .