Knowing your member milestones can help you plan for your retirement. Most Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) Tier 3 and Tier 4 members (unless they are in special retirement plans) retire under the Article 15 retirement plan. If you’re covered by this retirement plan, you have a set of member milestones that affect how your pension is calculated and how much you’ll receive at retirement.
Here are some important Tier 3 and 4 milestones:
- With ten years of service credit, you would be eligible to 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.
- Also 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.
- With ten years of service credit, 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, 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 credit, the benefit is 1.66 percent of your final average earnings (FAE) for each year of service.
- If you retire with 20 to 30 years of service credit, the benefit is 2 percent of your FAE for each year of service.
- If you retire with more than 30 years of service credit, the benefit is 2 percent of your FAE for each year of service up to 30. For each year of service beyond 30, you will receive 1.5 percent of your FAE.
Note: The law limits the final average earnings of all members who joined on or after June 17, 1971. For example, for most members, if your earnings increase significantly during the years used in your FAE, it’s possible that some of those earnings may not be used toward your pension. The specific limits vary by tier. Visit our Final Average Earnings page for more information.
The amount of your pension also depends on several factors, including your years of service credit and your age when you retire. Read our blog post, Tier 3 & 4 Members: When Is The Right Time To Retire?, for information to consider. You can also estimate your pension in Retirement Online and enter different retirement dates to see how those choices would affect your benefit.
What is the maximum percentage I can retire with if I stay beyond 30 years and 55 years of age as a tier 4 employee?
Whether you have a cap on the number of years you can use toward your pension depends on your retirement plan and tier. For more information, please refer to your retirement plan publication. You can use our online tool to help you find the right publication.
For account-specific information, please message our customer service representatives using our secure contact form. Filling out the secure form allows us to safely contact you about your personal account information.
I retired May 2021 and have not received increase for my vacation and sick days. A co-worker who retired two weeks after me has already received her adjustment. I was told they are behind— what date are they up to. No one has been able to answer this question.
When you retire, your pension payment is based on the salary and service information we have on file for you at retirement. In some cases, slight adjustments are made to the initial amount after we receive and process final payroll information from your employer. These recalculations are processed in date order and are generally minimal compared to the overall benefit amount.
Once we have all the information we need and we finalize your benefit amount, if your payment increases, you will receive a retroactive payment for the amount you are owed back to your date of retirement.
I understand that you are behind but you did not answer my question—what date are you currently up to? My retirement date was May 2021. Are you working on 2020 still or 2021? As I indicated in previous email a co worker retired two weeks after me and already has received her adjustment. Final info from my employer was submitted and received.
Your message is important to us, and we have sent you a private message in response.
Thank you for this information, I joined the NYSLRS in 8/12/11 and i am in teir 5.
would there be an updated post on teir 5 as well?
You can find Tier 5 benefit and milestone information in your retirement plan booklet.
I’m curious about the 30 year milestone that eliminates the early retirement penalty between 55 and 62 years of age. Is this a change from several years earlier, when the “milestone” was 25 years of service to avoid an early retirement penalty? I believe it was, but just curious….and if I’m correct, when did it change from 25 to 30 years?
The 30-year milestone has not been changed. Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) Tier 2, 3 and 4 members in the Article 15 retirement plan and Tier 5 Uniformed Court Officers and Peace Officers employed by the Unified Court System can retire at 55 without penalty if they have 30 or more years of service credit.
My name is Rylanda Bruno and I have 33 almost 34 years of service. I plan on resigning in august of this year and I’m 53 not yet retirement age. Will I be penalized for leaving early ? I know that I will not get a pension until I’m 55. I just want to live my life starting now. I know I’m so close to retirement age but just can’t wait. Thanks in advance for your help.
If you are a Tier 3 or 4 member in the Article 15 retirement plan who has more than 30 years of service and you leave public employment before you turn 55, you will still be eligible for an unreduced retirement benefit as early as age 55. But leaving the public payroll before you are eligible to retire may affect your eligibility for certain death benefits and health benefits.
We suggest you email our customer service representatives using the secure email form to ask how leaving public service would affect your NYSLRS benefits.
You may also wish to speak to your health benefits administrator to find out how going off payroll would affect any post-retirement health benefits you may be entitled to.
You may also find our publication What If I Leave Public Employment? helpful.
Updated 10/22
I have been retired for one year and have not received my vacation and sick days applied to my retirement credits. I understand you have new software PeopleSoft that is causing some of the delay.
When you retire, your pension payment is based on the salary and service information we have on file for you at retirement. In some cases, slight adjustments are made to the initial amount after we receive and process final payroll information from your employer. These recalculations are processed in date order and are generally minimal compared to the overall benefit amount.
Once we have all the information we need and we finalize your benefit amount, if your payment increases, you will receive a retroactive payment for the amount you are owed back to your date of retirement.
I as well have not Received my sick day .
How do avoid paying taxes? Always got a refund while employed . Can I have a audit ?
You can change the amount of federal withholding from your pension payment by completing and submitting a W-4P form. You can check your current withholding amount in Retirement Online.
For information about federal taxes, please visit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website or speak to a tax preparer.
For account-specific questions about your retirement benefit, please email our customer service representatives using our secure email form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.