Teacher Pension CalculatorPlain-English estimates for Virginia teachersUnofficial
Virginia · VRS · Methods & sources

How we estimate Virginia VRS pensions

Every number on the Virginia pages comes from a VRS handbook, the VRS Employer Manual, the actuarial valuation, or the Code of Virginia. Here's what the calculator does, and what it leaves out.

  1. 1

    Find your plan

    You pick it, or we work it out from your membership date. If you joined before July 1, 2010 and don't pick, we assume continuous service to decide whether you had five years by January 1, 2013, and say so.

    Plan 1 Handbook p. 2 and p. 13, Eligible Employees; Va. Code § 51.1-124.3 ("Average final compensation", "Normal retirement date"); Plan 2 Handbook p. 13, Eligible Employees; Hybrid Handbook p. 2 and p. 6, Plan Eligibility; Va. Code § 51.1-169(A)
  2. 2

    Project your service

    We add the time from today to your retirement date to the service you enter, one month of credit per month. The work-longer comparison adds a year of service for each year.

    Our assumption (see below)
  3. 3

    Check the retirement rules

    Your age (in whole months, on the 1st of the month) and service on the retirement date, against your plan's unreduced rules, then its reduced rules.

    Plan 1 Handbook p. 15, Unreduced Retirement; Va. Code § 51.1-153(A), (B)(2); Plan 2 Handbook p. 14, Unreduced Retirement; Va. Code § 51.1-153(A), (B)(3); Plan 1 Handbook p. 15, Reduced Retirement; Va. Code § 51.1-153(B)(1), (D); Plan 2 Handbook p. 14, Reduced Retirement; Va. Code § 51.1-153(B)(1)
  4. 4

    Apply the formula

    Average final compensation × multiplier × years of service. In Plan 2, and for Hybrid members who moved over, each period of service uses its own multiplier.

    Plan 1 Handbook p. 17, Calculating the Basic Benefit; Employer Manual p. 6, Unreduced and Reduced Benefit Formula
  5. 5

    Apply the early cut

    Plan 1: 0.5% a month for the first 60 months and 0.4% after, counted to 65 or 30 years. Plan 2 and Hybrid: VRS doesn't publish the rate, so we show the unreduced amount as "up to", plus a separate, labeled rough guide at Plan 1's rate.

    Employer Manual p. 4, Reduction by Type: 55/5 (for Plan 1 members); Va. Code § 51.1-155(A)(3); Employer Manual p. 4, Reduction by Type: 60/5 (for Plan 2 and Hybrid plan members)
  6. 6

    Add the dates

    Earliest and unreduced dates, the first COLA date, and the health insurance credit.

    Plan 1 Handbook p. 56, Cost-of-Living Adjustments; Retiree Handbook p. 7, Your COLA Effective Date; Plan 1 Handbook p. 62-63, Health Insurance Credit; Health Insurance Credit Dollar Amounts; Hybrid Handbook p. 69-70

In short: the calculator finds your plan, applies the formula (1.7%, 1.65% or 1%) and the early-retirement rules, and shows an upper limit where VRS doesn't publish a rate. Try the Plan 1 handbook example.

What the calculator doesn't cover

How we check the math

The calculator runs on a small engine that reads every rule from one data file, with a source for each. Automated tests check it against every worked example in the VRS handbooks and the Employer Manual, plus the edges of each rule (birthdays, the 2010, 2013 and 2014 plan dates, the 60-month step in the Plan 1 cut, the COLA caps). The tests run every time the site is built.

How we check the math (Virginia VRS)
ExampleSource showsOur engineSource
Plan 1 AFC, $126,000 over 36 months$42,000$42,000Plan 1 Handbook p. 16, Average Final Compensation Example Match
Plan 2 AFC, $210,000 over 60 months$42,000$42,000Plan 2 Handbook p. 15, Average Final Compensation Example Match
Plan 1, age 50, 30 years (a month)$1,785.00$1,785.00Plan 1 Handbook p. 17, Formula Example Match
Plan 2, age 60, 30 years (a year)$20,874$20,874Plan 2 Handbook p. 16, Formula Example Match
Plan 2, age 60, 30 years (a month)$1,739.50$1,739.50Plan 2 Handbook p. 16, Formula Example Match
Hybrid, age 60, 30 years (a month)$1,050.00$1,050.00Hybrid Handbook p. 18, Formula Example Match
Hybrid from Plan 2, $100,000 average (a month)$1,843.75$1,843.75Employer Manual p. 6, Calculation Match
PLOP on $32,000, 3 years$96,000$96,000Plan 1 Handbook p. 18, PLOP Amounts chart Match
PLOP on $12,600, 3 years$37,800$37,800Hybrid Handbook p. 19, PLOP Amounts chart Match
Hybrid match on 4% voluntary2.5%2.5%Hybrid Handbook p. 22-23, Contributions and Defined Contribution Component Contributions table; Va. Code § 51.1-169(B)(2) Match
Life insurance, $49,780 pay$100,000$100,000Plan 1 Handbook p. 59-60, Basic Group Life Insurance Coverage; The Value of Your Life Insurance (reduction timeline example) Match
Health insurance credit, 30 years$120$120Plan 1 Handbook p. 63, Health Insurance Credit Dollar Amounts Match

Things to check with VRS

The sources don't settle these points. Each is labeled "Check with VRS" where it shows up on the site.

Check with VRS

VRS doesn't publish how much Plan 2 and Hybrid benefits are cut for retiring early (age 60 with 5 years). The Employer Manual says only what date the cut is counted to, and state law says only that it is an "actuarial equivalent".

So for Plan 2 and Hybrid early retirement we show your unreduced Basic Benefit as an "up to" amount. Your real check will be lower. As a rough guide only, we also show what Plan 1's published rate would give.

Employer Manual p. 4, Reduction by Type: 60/5; Va. Code § 51.1-155(A)(3)
Check with VRS

For Plan 1 retirement at 50 with 10 years, the Employer Manual lists three pieces of the reduction joined by "plus" but doesn't show a worked example. State law describes the same benefit as the actuarial value of waiting until 55.

We add the three pieces: 0.5%/0.4% a month from age 55 to your unreduced date, plus 0.6% for each month you're under 55.

Employer Manual p. 4, Reduction by Type: 50/10; Va. Code § 51.1-155(A)(5)
Check with VRS

The sources count early retirement in months, but don't say how a partial month is counted.

We count whole months from your retirement date to the first of the month on or after the date you'd qualify unreduced.

Employer Manual p. 4, Reduction by Type
Check with VRS

Retirement always starts on the first of a month. The sources don't say exactly which first of the month counts when your birthday falls mid-month.

We treat an age as reached on the first of the month on or after your birthday (a birthday on the 1st counts that day).

Plan 1 Handbook p. 52, Retirement Date and Monthly Benefit Payments
Check with VRS

If your membership date is before July 1, 2010, you're in Plan 1 only if you had five years of service credit by January 1, 2013. We can't see your record.

If you don't pick your plan, we assume continuous service from your membership date and tell you which plan that gives. myVRS shows your actual plan.

Plan 2 Handbook p. 13, Eligible Employees
Check with VRS

Plan 2 and opt-in multipliers depend on when each year of service was earned, bought or granted (before 2013, before July 2014, or after). We can't see your record.

Unless you enter your own split, we assume continuous full-time service from your membership date.

Plan 2 Handbook p. 15, Your Core Benefit; Hybrid Handbook p. 18
Check with VRS

For members who moved to the Hybrid plan, the sources word the July 1, 2014 switch-over slightly differently ("before" and "after" July 1, 2014).

We count service from July 1, 2014 on at the Hybrid 1.0% multiplier. Only July 2014 itself is affected.

Hybrid Handbook p. 18, Defined Benefit Multiplier for Opt-In Members; Employer Manual p. 5
Check with VRS

Two VRS wordings of the first-COLA wait ("July 1 after one full calendar year" and "July 1 of the second calendar year after retirement") give different dates for a January 1 retirement.

We follow the member handbook's "one full calendar year" wording: a January 1, 2027 retirement gets its first COLA July 1, 2028.

Plan 1 Handbook p. 56, Cost-of-Living Adjustments; p. 12; Actuarial Appendix p. 14
Check with VRS

State law lets a member who was within five years of unreduced retirement on January 1, 2013 skip the longer COLA wait. The member handbooks don't mention this.

We apply it when your projected unreduced date is on or before January 1, 2018.

Va. Code § 51.1-166(D)(3); Actuarial Appendix p. 14
Check with VRS

If you retire reduced with fewer than 20 years, the first COLA waits for the date you'd have qualified unreduced. The sources don't say whether that date assumes you'd have kept working.

We assume you stop working at retirement, so it's the date your age alone (or the Rule of 90 with your service then) would qualify you.

Plan 1 Handbook p. 56, Cost-of-Living Adjustments; Va. Code § 51.1-166(D)(4)
Check with VRS

State law says the health insurance credit is $4 for each full year of service; the handbook just says $4 per year.

We count full years only: 25 years 8 months gets $100 a month, not $102.67.

Va. Code § 51.1-1401(A); Plan 1 Handbook p. 63, Health Insurance Credit Dollar Amounts
Check with VRS

VRS doesn't publish the factors for the Survivor Option, the Partial Lump-Sum Option (PLOP) or the Advance Pension Option.

We show the Basic Benefit only, and explain the other choices in words. myVRS's Benefit Estimator shows your own amounts.

Plan 1 Handbook p. 20, Use myVRS to Calculate the Best Option for You
Check with VRS

Retiree life insurance starts at your pay "rounded to the next highest thousand", doubled. It's not clear what happens when pay is already an exact thousand.

We leave an exact thousand as it is.

Plan 1 Handbook p. 59-60, Basic Group Life Insurance Coverage
Check with VRS

Retirees with 30 or more years have a minimum life insurance amount: $8,000 when it was set in 2015, raised each year by the Plan 2 COLA. The sources don't give today's figure.

We don't show a current minimum.

Plan 1 Handbook p. 59, Basic Group Life Insurance Coverage
Check with VRS

A few Virginia cities and Fairfax County run their own retirement plans and have transfer agreements with VRS. The sources don't say whether any of them covers teachers.

This site covers VRS only.

Plan 1 Handbook p. 31, VRS Portability Agreements
Check with VRS

The VRS sources say only that your benefit is subject to Virginia income tax if you live in Virginia. They don't cover Virginia's own deductions or subtractions.

We don't estimate Virginia tax. Check with a tax adviser or the Virginia Department of Taxation.

Plan 1 Handbook p. 55, Taxes
Check with VRS

The VRS handbooks talk about Social Security retirement age and estimates, but never say whether your VRS teaching job is also covered by Social Security.

We don't assume either way. Your Social Security statement shows whether your school earnings were covered.

Plan 1 Handbook p. 57, Social Security
Check with VRS

A search result said VRS was reviewing its early retirement reduction factors in 2025. We couldn't download the document to confirm it.

We use the rules in the July 2026 sources.

Employer Manual p. 4

Where sources disagreed

Sources

We cite the page number printed on each handbook page. Last reviewed Nov. 12, 2026.

Found a mistake?Email [email protected] with the page, what you entered, and what VRS told you. We fix confirmed errors and note the change.
The official numbersOnly VRS can tell you your actual benefit. Use the Benefit Estimator in myVRS or call 888-827-3847.

Source: VRS Plan 1, Plan 2 and Hybrid Retirement Plan Handbooks for Members, 07-2026 editions (VRSHB-1 07-2026, VRSHB-2 07-2026, HybridHB 07-2026), Plan 1 Handbook pp. 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 31, 52, 55, 56, 57, 59-60, 59, 62-63, 63; Plan 2 Handbook pp. 13, 14, 15, 16; Hybrid Handbook pp. 18, 19, 22-23, 69-70. Also: Employer Manual pp. 4, 5, 6; Retiree Handbook p. 7; Actuarial Appendix p. 14; Code of Virginia §§ 51.1-124.3, 51.1-1401, 51.1-153, 51.1-155, 51.1-166, 51.1-169. Last reviewed .