Check with WRSEstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with WRS (1-877-533-5020) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly annuity
Fill in the form and we'll show your monthly annuity, formula vs money purchase, your age reduction, the first day you'd get it unreduced, all seven payment options in dollars, and what working longer adds.
Formula or money purchase?
Your age reduction
Your key dates
Start as planned, or later?
Your annuity at every age
Annuity adjustments (not a COLA)
If you go back to work
Common questions
What is the WRS?
The Wisconsin Retirement System. It covers Wisconsin public school teachers, along with most state and local government workers. The Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) runs it. Teachers are in the "general" category, which has no tiers by hire date.
How is a WRS annuity calculated?
ETF works it out two ways and pays the higher one. The formula: final average monthly earnings × years of service × 1.765% (service before 2000) or 1.6% (2000 on), less any age reduction, capped at 70% of final average earnings. Money purchase: your account balance × a factor for your age. ETF's example: $2,500 a month, 5 years before 2000 and 20 after, at 59: $971.64 a month before the Variable adjustment.
When can I retire without a reduction?
At 65, or at 57 with 30 years of creditable service. You can start as early as 55, with a permanent reduction.
How much does retiring early cost?
0.4% for each month before 57. From 57 to 65 the monthly cut is smaller the more service you have. With 25 years, ETF's table gives .840 at 55 and .960 at 60. With 30 years it's .904 at 55 and no cut from 57.
Do WRS retirees get a COLA?
Not a fixed one. Each spring annuities are adjusted up or down by the investment results of the Core and Variable Trust Funds. The Core part never falls below its starting amount. For 2025 the Core change was 2.1% and the Variable change 18%, effective April 1, 2026.
Can I go back to work after I retire?
Only after at least 75 days away from WRS employers, with no job lined up when you leave. A job expected to be two-thirds time or more stops your annuity until you retire again.
Are Milwaukee Public Schools teachers in the WRS?
State law and ETF's fact sheet point that way, and this calculator treats them the same as other teachers. No ETF booklet we used names MPS directly, so check with ETF.
Does the WRS have a DROP?
No. None of ETF's publications we used describes a DROP. To plan your last years of work, see One more year?
Is this the official WRS calculator?
No. This is an unofficial estimate built from ETF's published booklets and Wis. Stat. ch. 40. It isn't affiliated with the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds. ETF's estimate and final calculation are official.
Compare Wisconsin with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security: Wisconsin teachers are covered by Social Security and Medicare under state law.
- Teacher DROP plans by state: No. WRS has no DROP.
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: No fixed COLA. Each year annuities may rise, stay the same or fall with investment results. The Core part never falls below its start.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: Taxed by Wisconsin, but at 67+ you can subtract up to $24,000 ($48,000 joint). A $5,000 break has age and income limits.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: 1.6% for service from 2000 (1.765% before) × years × average of your 3 highest years. You get the higher of this or a money purchase amount.
- Teacher retirement age by state: Age 65, or 57 with 30 years of creditable service.
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
Who's in the WRS?No tiers by hire date. The July 1, 2011 vesting rule, contributions, and Milwaukee teachers.→Formula vs money purchase1.765% or 1.6% × service × final average earnings, the 70% cap, and the money purchase method. The higher is paid.→Early retirement and the age reduction0.4% a month before 57, less after 57 with long service. ETF's full table and dollars by age.→Buying service creditForfeited service, out-of-state teaching and other governmental service, and pre-1974 military credit.→WRS glossaryPlain-English definitions of the WRS terms you'll run into.→
Planning your exit
Leaving teaching: separation benefit or annuity?Vesting, the separation benefit (your half only), and the age-55 deadline.→Taxes on your WRS annuityFederal tax, voluntary Wisconsin withholding, the retirement income subtractions, and lump sums.→Social SecurityWisconsin teachers are covered. How the accelerated payment option bridges the years before 62.→
After you retire
Working after retirementThe 75-day break, a valid termination, when your annuity stops, and re-retiring.→Annuity adjustments (not a COLA)Core and Variable changes from investment results, the Core floor, and every year since 1990.→Health insurance in retirementKeeping your district's coverage, Medicare, and why sick leave conversion is for state employees only.→Death and survivor benefitsWhat your family receives before and after you retire.→
More calculators
Some states have a DROP program. The WRS doesn't. To plan your last years of work, see One more year? Milwaukee Public Schools teachers: see Who's in the WRS? Check with ETF
Source: Your Benefit Handbook (ET-2119), 6/18/2026, with Calculating Your Retirement Benefits (ET-4107, rev 3/5/2025), ET-2119 pp. 2, 3; ET-4105 p. 4; ET-4107 pp. 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19; ET-4116 p. 3; ET-8816b; Wis. Stat. ss. 40.02, 40.19. Last reviewed .