Short answer: hired before July 1, 2014 and kept your membership? You're in Legacy: 1.5% a year of service, plus 5%. Hired on or after it? Hybrid: 1% a year plus a 401(k). You can't choose, and a former Legacy member who lost membership and came back is Hybrid. Details: the formula, the Hybrid Plan, retirement ages. Try a Legacy or Hybrid example in the calculator.
The one question: when were you hired?
- Before July 1, 2014, and you've kept your membership: the Legacy Plan. Legacy Member Guide p. 2, Introduction; Legacy flyer p. 1
- On or after July 1, 2014: the Hybrid Plan, a smaller pension plus a 401(k). Hybrid Member Guide p. 2, Introduction; Hybrid flyer p. 1
- Hired before 2014 but lost your membership (a refund, or more than seven years away before you were vested) and came back after June 30, 2014: the Hybrid Plan. Legacy Member Guide p. 2, Introduction
Your TCRS annual statement and MyTCRS show your plan.
| Legacy Plan | Hybrid Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Hired before July 1, 2014, membership kept | Hired on or after July 1, 2014 |
| Pension formula | 1.5% × average × years (1.75% above the integration level), then +5% | 1% × average × years |
| A year of service on a $50,000 average | $788 a year | $500 a year |
| Full benefit | Age 60, or 30 years at any age | Age 65, or age + service = 90 |
| Early (reduced) benefit | Age 55, or 25 years | Age 60, or age + service = 80 |
| You pay to TCRS | 5% of pay | 5% of pay |
| 401(k) | Optional, on your own | Employer 5%; you 2% unless you opt out |
| Vested in the pension | 5 years | 5 years (401(k): right away) |
| Average final compensation | Five highest years in a row | Five highest years in a row |
Our summary of the member guides. Legacy Member Guide p. 5, Service Retirement; p. 7, Social Security Integration Calculation; Hybrid Member Guide p. 5, Benefit Accrual Factor; p. 6, Service Retirement Formula; Hybrid Member Guide p. 3-4, Contributions to the Hybrid Plan; p. 11-12, 401(k) Plan; Hybrid flyer p. 2
From the sources
- Tennessee public school teachers are covered by the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS). Which TCRS plan you're in depends on when you were hired.Legacy Member Guide p. 2; Hybrid Member Guide p. 2
- Legacy Plan: full-time teachers hired before July 1, 2014 who have kept their membership.Legacy Member Guide p. 2, Introduction
- Hybrid Plan: full-time teachers hired on or after July 1, 2014. It combines a smaller TCRS pension with a 401(k) savings account.Hybrid Member Guide p. 2, The Hybrid Plan Overview and Introduction; Hybrid flyer p. 1
- You lose Legacy membership by taking a refund, or by leaving before you're vested and staying out of TCRS-covered work for more than seven years in a row. If you then come back as a teacher on or after July 1, 2014, you join the Hybrid Plan.Legacy Member Guide p. 2, Introduction
- Legacy teachers contribute 5% of pay to TCRS. Hybrid teachers contribute 5% to TCRS and are automatically enrolled at 2% in the 401(k); the employer adds 4% to TCRS and 5% to the 401(k).Legacy Member Guide p. 3; Hybrid Member Guide p. 4, Contributions to the Hybrid Plan
- In both plans you're vested in the TCRS pension after five years (60 months) of creditable service. Hybrid members are vested in the 401(k) right away.Legacy Member Guide p. 3, Vesting; Hybrid Member Guide p. 4, Vesting; p. 11
Questions
Can I choose between Legacy and Hybrid?
No. Your hire date decides it. Teachers hired before July 1, 2014 who kept their membership are in Legacy; teachers hired on or after that date are in the Hybrid Plan.
I was a Legacy teacher, left and came back. Which plan am I in?
A former Legacy member who lost membership and is rehired as a full-time teacher on or after July 1, 2014 joins the Hybrid Plan. You lose Legacy membership by taking a refund, or by leaving before you're vested and staying out of TCRS-covered work for more than seven years.
Source: TCRS Legacy Retirement Plan for Teachers Member Guide and Hybrid Retirement Plan for State Employees and Teachers Member Guide, Legacy 12/2024; Hybrid revised 07/2024, Legacy Member Guide pp. 2, 3, 5, 7; Hybrid Member Guide pp. 2, 3-4, 4, 5, 6, 11, 11-12. Also: Legacy flyer p. 1; Hybrid flyer pp. 1, 2; Separation from Service guide pp. 2-3; TCRS annual report FY2025 p. 37. Last reviewed .