CalPERS Retirement Calculator

How CalPERS calculates your retirement benefit

Three inputs: final compensation, years of service credit and the age factor for your formula. Multiply them and you have the annual Unmodified Allowance.

Annual Pension = Final Compensation x Years of Service Credit x Age Factor

A Classic State Miscellaneous member retires at 57 with 28 years and $78,000 final compensation. The State Misc 2% at 55 chart gives 2.126% at 57: $78,000 x 28 x 0.02126 = $46,432 a year, or $3,869 a month. That's 59.5% of final pay.

Every year you wait adds a year of service and moves you up the chart. At 55 the factor is 2.0%, at 57 it's 2.126%, at 60 it's 2.314%, and from 63 on it's 2.5%.

Classic vs. PEPRA: the 2013 dividing line

The Public Employees' Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) set new formulas for people who first join CalPERS on or after January 1, 2013 without prior service in CalPERS or a reciprocal system. Everyone else is Classic and keeps the formula their employer contracted for.

PEPRA members use their highest 36 consecutive months of pay, can't retire before 52, and don't reach a 2.0% factor until 62. Their pensionable pay is also capped: for 2026, $159,733 if the job is covered by Social Security and $191,679 if it isn't. Classic members use 12 or 36 months depending on their contract.

Classic pay has a cap too, from federal tax law (IRC 401(a)(17)): $360,000 for 2026, up from $350,000 in 2025. It applies to Classic members whose CalPERS membership date is July 1, 1996 or later. A Local Miscellaneous 2% at 55 member retiring at 60 with 20 years and $400,000 final compensation gets 2.262% x 20 x $360,000 = $162,864 a year, not $180,960. The calculator applies the cap unless you say you joined before July 1, 1996.

Age factors side by side

From the CalPERS benefit factor charts, at whole ages:

The charts also list quarter-year steps. Your formula depends on your employer and member category; your CalPERS account shows it.

Classic 2% at 55: State and Local tables differ

Both reach 2.0% at 55, but they get there differently. State Miscellaneous starts at 1.1% at 50 and climbs 0.18% a year: 1.28% at 51, 1.46% at 52, 1.64% at 53, 1.82% at 54. After 55 it rises about 0.06% a year: 2.064% at 56, 2.126% at 57, 2.188% at 58, 2.25% at 59, 2.314% at 60, 2.376% at 61, 2.438% at 62, then 2.5% from 63.

Local Miscellaneous 2% at 55 starts higher, 1.426% at 50, and tops out lower, 2.418% from 63.

Some state members in Social Security also have a one-time $133.33 offset taken off monthly final compensation. Your CalPERS estimate will show it if it applies; this calculator doesn't apply it.

PEPRA 2% at 62

The chart starts at 1.0% at 52 and adds 0.1% a year: 1.5% at 57, 2.0% at 62, 2.5% at 67 and older. You can retire at 50 only if you have combined Classic and PEPRA service.

A PEPRA member retiring at 57 with 25 years and $90,000 final compensation gets $90,000 x 25 x 0.015 = $33,750 a year. Waiting to 62 means 30 years at 2.0%: $54,000. Five more years, 60% more a year.

2.7% at 55 and State Safety 2% at 50

Local Miscellaneous 2.7% at 55 starts at 2.0% at 50, adds 0.14% a year to 2.56% at 54, and holds at 2.7% from 55 on. Working past 55 adds service but not a higher factor.

The State Safety 2% at 50 chart uses the same numbers, 2.0% at 50 up to 2.7% at 55 and older, and caps the benefit at 90% of final compensation. Retiring at 53 with 25 years and $110,000 final compensation: $110,000 x 25 x 0.0242 = $66,550 a year. At 57 with 29 years: 2.7% x 29 = 78.3%, so $86,130. State safety members are split across several formulas (2.5% at 55, 3% at 50, PEPRA 2.7% at 57 and others), so confirm yours with CalPERS before you use this one.

Beneficiary options and survivor continuance

The calculator shows the Unmodified Allowance, the highest amount, which stops when you die. If you choose an option that continues payments to a beneficiary, CalPERS lowers your allowance by a factor based on your age and your beneficiary's age at retirement. CalPERS figures that factor, so get an estimate from your CalPERS account before you decide.

Separately, some employers contract for survivor continuance, which pays an eligible survivor 25% or 50% of your Unmodified Allowance. When it applies, CalPERS takes that portion out first and applies the option reduction only to the rest.

COLA timing

Your first COLA arrives May 1 of the second calendar year after the year you retire. Retire December 31, 2025 and it starts May 1, 2027. Retire January 1, 2026 and you wait until May 1, 2028. The size of each increase depends on inflation and the maximum in your employer's contract.

A 457(b) or 403(b) invested for growth is the inflation hedge the pension can't promise.

When to retire: the break-even math

Each year you delay adds a year of service and, until your formula tops out, a higher factor on every year you already have. You also give up a year of checks.

If waiting two years raises the monthly allowance by $500 and you'd have collected $4,000 a month in those two years, you gave up $96,000. At $500 more a month you recover it in 192 months, 16 years. Retiring at 55 with a long life expectancy, waiting wins. At 63 with health concerns, it may not.

The calculator's two-more-years comparison runs this for your numbers.