When you join the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS), you are assigned a tier based on your date of membership. You are in:
- Tier 3 if you joined July 27, 1976 through August 31, 1983.
- Tier 4 if you joined September 1, 1983 through December 31, 2009.
Let’s look at the ERS Tier 3 and 4 milestones and how they affect your benefits.
Why Milestones Matter
As a NYSLRS member, you earn service credit for your paid public employment. Generally, one year of full-time work equals one year of service credit. As you earn service credit, you’ll reach career milestones that will make you eligible for certain benefits or for increases to your existing benefits. Understanding these milestones can help you plan for retirement.
Your ERS Tier 3 and 4 milestones and pension calculation depend on your retirement plan, so it is important to familiarize yourself with the details of your plan. Most ERS Tier 3 and 4 members are in the Article 15 retirement plan (named for a section of the New York State Retirement and Social Security Law). If you see Plan A15 listed in the ‘My Account Summary’ section of your Retirement Online account, you’re in this plan. For members not covered by the Article 15 retirement plan, visit our website to Find Your NYSLRS Retirement Plan Publication.
Important ERS Tier 3 and 4 Milestones
Here are some additional important milestones for Tier 3 and 4 members in the Article 15 retirement plan:
- With ten years of service credit, you can apply for a non-job-related disability benefit if you are permanently disabled and cannot perform your duties because of a physical or mental condition.
- With ten years of service credit, your beneficiaries may be eligible for an out-of-service death benefit if you leave public employment and die before retirement.
- Ten years also marks the point when you are no longer able to withdraw your membership and receive a refund of your contributions if you leave public employment.
- You are eligible to retire once you are age 55 and have five years of service credit. However, for most Tier 3 and 4 members, there would be reductions to your benefit if you retire before age 62 with less than 30 years of service credit.
- You can retire with full benefits at age 62.
- If you retire with less than 20 years of service, your pension will equal 1.66 percent of your final average earnings (FAE) for each year of service.
- If you retire with 20 to 30 years of service, your pension will equal 2 percent of your FAE for each year of service.
- For each year of service beyond 30 years, you will receive 1.5 percent of your FAE.
Note: When you retire, your FAE will be based on the average of your three highest consecutive years of earnings. The law limits the FAE of all members who joined on or after June 17, 1971. Read our blog post, Calculating Your Final Average Earnings, for more information, including how your FAE will be calculated and limitations.
Most members can estimate their pension in Retirement Online. You can fine tune your estimate by entering your annual earnings and expected pay increases. You can also include any service credit you plan to purchase.
If I have 38 years of service and retire at age 62 (tier 4) what will be my total % of my FAE?
For members of ERS Tiers 3 and 4, your FAE is based on the average of your highest three consecutive years of earnings. If your earnings increase significantly through the years used in your FAE, some of those earnings may not be used toward your pension. For more information, read our blog post, Calculating Your Final Average Earnings.
To understand how your pension is calculated, find your NYSLRS retirement plan publication and read the Service Retirement Benefit section, or you can estimate your pension using Retirement Online.
For account-specific information, message our customer service representatives using our secure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
I am 59.5 years old, a Tier 4, and I have 25 years in the system.
If I want 30 years in, I will have to work until I’m 65. I won’t do this as life is too short.
My options, as far as I can see, are…
1- Retire at 62, with 27 years in
Or
2- Retire with 25+ years, at the age of 60-61.
Are these my only options?
Will I lose out a lot of $ if I Retire at age 60, with 25 years?
This is sooo hard to figure out. Please help.
Most Tier 3 and 4 members are eligible to retire as early as 55, but they may face pension reductions if they retire before age 62. You can find details about benefit reductions for early retirement on our website.
Most members can create their own pension estimate in minutes using Retirement Online. You can enter different retirement dates to see how those choices would affect your benefit.
• Sign in to Retirement Online.
• Click the Estimate my Pension Benefit button to access the pension calculator.
If you have account-specific questions, you can message our customer service representatives using our secure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information. To speak to a representative, or schedule an appointment for a phone consultation, call 866-805-0990, press 2, then follow the prompts.
When will the retirement system finally sum up my final retirement? I’ve been retired since September 2020.
NYSLRS is working hard to complete recalculations and to provide retroactive payments as quickly as possible. We apologize for the length of time this is taking for you. We are working to improve our service in this area and we thank you for your patience.
I am still waiting on a decision for my calculation review for my years of service based upon documentation submitted by me that I paid for from Social Security. Whom do I contact about that? Please respond.
To check the status of your request, please message our customer service representatives using our secure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
Retired May 1st 2021. Still waiting for sick leave credit to be applied to my retirement. Could you share where you are in the process. Example: Is it staffing, back logged, etc. ? This would be helpful to know. Thank you!
NYSLRS is working hard to complete recalculations and to provide retroactive payments as quickly as possible. We apologize for the length of time this is taking for you. We are working to improve our service in this area and we thank you for your patience.
I came in 1/25/99. I am a tier 3. Now your trying to say I’m a tier 4. What is going on? That is not correct.
Most members who joined ERS from September 1, 1983 through December 31, 2009 are in Tier 4 (exception: there are no Tier 4 State Corrections Officers). Visit our What Tier Are You In page for more information.
You can check your tier by signing in to your Retirement Online account.
If you have account-specific questions about your Tier, you can message our customer service representatives using our secure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
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If you have a question about your NYSLRS benefits, you can message our customer service representatives using oursecure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
You can also find answers to the most common questions we receive from members and retirees on our Contact Us page.
Could you tell us where they are up to in finalizing the pension calculations. I retired in August 2021 and I am still waiting. I know staffing has been cut, and everyone is overworked, but it would help if we even knew approximately how long we need to wait. Is it 5 years- or more?
NYSLRS is working hard to complete recalculations and to provide retroactive payments as quickly as possible. We apologize for the length of time this is taking for you. We are working to improve our service in this area and we thank you for your patience.
OK so if you retire with 20 to 30 years of service, your pension will equal 2 percent of your FAE for each year of service, but if you go beyond 30 years, you will only receive 1.5 percent of your FAE? Why is there a reduction?
You are correct. If you are an ERS Tier 3 or 4 member in the Article 15 retirement plan, and retire with 20 to 30 years of service, your pension will be equal to 2 percent of your FAE for each year of service. For each year of service beyond 30 years, you will receive 1.5 percent of your FAE. These calculation percentages are established by law. The retirement system (NYSLRS) administers legislation and programs that are signed into law.
For example with 32 years of service, you would receive 60 percent of your FAE for the first 30 years, plus 1.5 percent for each of the last two years, for a total of 63 percent of your FAE.
So if I’m understanding this right, if I retire with say 32 yrs of service I will receive 2% of my 30 yrs plus an additional 3% @ 1.5% per additional yr over 30. So all together 5% of my FAE?
With 32 years of service, a Tier 3 or 4 member in the Article 15 retirement plan would receive 60 percent of their FAE for the first 30 years, plus 1.5 percent for each of the last two years, for a total of 63 percent of their FAE.
When are 2022 retiree’s going to see their sick leave credit applied to their pension?
NYSLRS is working hard to complete recalculations and to provide retroactive payments as quickly as possible. We apologize for the length of time this is taking for you. We are working to improve our service in this area and we thank you for your patience.
How about those of us that retired in 2020 and still have NOT received the corrected amount or retroactive pay. Four years and still waiting….
Will be retiring soon and was not aware that sick leave gets applied to your pension, how does this work. I thought you could only use sick leave for health insurance premiums???
For information about factors that may impact your pension, such as receiving credit for sick leave, please consult your retirement plan publication.
You may also be interested in our blog post What Unused Sick Leave Might Mean For You at Retirement.
If you have account-specific questions about your benefits, please message our customer service representatives using our secure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
When I joined in October 1983 I was told that my benefit is 2% for every year of credit. In 2022 I noticed it was 1.66% after 30 years. In 2024 it has become 1.5% after 30 years. A one-half of 1% for years over 30 may not sound like much to you, but to me could cost me 25,000-30,000 in retirement should I live to, say 85.
For questions about your specific circumstances, please message our customer service representatives using our secure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.