Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) members who join NYSLRS on or after April 1, 2012 are in Tier 6. There are currently 129,359 ERS Tier 6 members who make up 21.1 percent of ERS membership.
ERS Tier 6 Membership Milestones
ERS Tier 6 members need 10 years of service credit to be vested. That means they are eligible to receive a service retirement benefit as early as age 55. The full retirement benefit age is 63, but they can retire between 55 and 63, with a reduced benefit. Tier 6 correction officers, however, can retire with 25 years of service, regardless of age.
The Final Average Salary (FAS) Calculation
A member’s final average salary is the average of the wages earned in the five highest consecutive years of employment. For ERS Tier 6 members, each year’s compensation used in the final average salary calculation is limited to no more than 10 percent above the average of the previous four years.
Tier 6 Service Retirement Benefit
Generally, the benefit is 1.66 percent of their final average salary for each year of service if the member retires with less than 20 years. If a member retires with 20 years of service, the benefit is 1.75 percent of their final average salary for each year of service, or 35 percent.
If a member retires with more than 20 years of service, they receive 35 percent for the first 20 years, plus 2 percent of their final average salary for each year of service over 20 years.
If you’re an ERS Tier 6 member, you can find out more about your benefits by reading one of the plan publications listed below:
what address do I use to add more money to my retirement account please? and if I started retirement in 2010 does that still make me tier 6?
Generally, Employees’ Retirement System members who joined January 1, 2010, through March 31, 2012, are in Tier 5. Tier 5 Police and Fire Retirement System members joined January 9, 2010, through March 31, 2012.
Unfortunately, you cannot make additional deposits to NYSLRS to count towards your pension. If you would like to save more toward your retirement, you may want to consider the Deferred Compensation plan, which allows you to save a portion of your gross salary before federal or New York State taxes are deducted. If you are a New York State employee, visit the New York State Deferred Compensation Plan website or call 1-800-422-8463 to learn more about deferred compensation or a similar plan. If you work for a local government, check with your Personnel office.
Can you generate an infographic like this one for the 89p system for tier 6 and 3&4?
Thank you for your suggestion. Please continue to visit our blog for retirement-related articles, and in the meantime, you can review your 89-p plan on our Publications page.