Colorado PERA Calculator: How to Use It
PERA's benefit depends on which of its nine tables you fall under. Pick the right one and the rest is 2.5% of HAS per year, or the table's reduced percentage if you go early.
What this calculator does
It projects your service to your planned retirement age and checks it against the unreduced rules for your PERA table, including the age-plus-service points rules. If you're unreduced, the benefit is 2.5% x service x HAS, up to 100%. If you're eligible for a reduced retirement, it looks up your percentage of HAS in PERA's published table for your group. Then it projects the 1.0% annual increase.
The result is Option 1, the single-life amount. Options 2 and 3 pay less to continue a benefit to a cobeneficiary.
What each input means
When you joined PERA
Pick the table that matches your membership date. For anyone who joined before 2011, two questions matter: did you have 5 years of service credit on January 1, 2011, and were you eligible to retire that day? If you're not sure, check your PERA account.
Current age and years of service credit
Use the service credit in your PERA account, including any you've bought. The calculator adds a year for every year until your planned retirement age.
Highest average salary
An annual figure. Average your 3 or 5 highest years, and remember PERA caps raises at 8% a year inside that average.
Planned retirement age
The age your benefit starts. It sets whether you're unreduced, reduced or not yet eligible.
Understanding the outputs
Green means unreduced. Yellow means a reduced service retirement, with the table percentage and how far below unreduced it is. Red means no benefit is payable at that age with that service, or you have under 5 years and only the money purchase benefit applies.
The annual increase box shows the benefit 5, 10 and 20 years in at 1.0% a year, after the 36-month wait. The rate can move between 0.5% and 2.0% under the automatic adjustment provision.
Points rules in practice
A 2011-2016 hire (PERA 7) with 29 years at 59 has 88 points and is unreduced. The same person at 57 with 29 years has 86 points and is reduced. A 2020-or-later hire (PERA 9) has a 94-point rule at 64, which works out the same as 64 with 30 years.
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Frequently asked questions
Which PERA table am I in?
It depends on when you joined, whether you had 5 years of service credit on January 1, 2011, and whether you were eligible to retire on that date. Joined 2020 or later: PERA 9. Joined 2011 to 2016: PERA 7. Joined 2017 to 2019: PERA 7 if your last 10 years are in the School or DPS Division, otherwise PERA 8. Your PERA account and annual statement show your table.
What is highest average salary?
The average of your 3 highest 12-month periods of salary if you had 5 years of service credit on January 1, 2020, otherwise your 5 highest. Each year in the average is capped at 8% above the prior one (15% for some pre-2007 members).
How does the calculator handle partial years?
Unreduced benefits use your exact service at 2.5% a year. Reduced percentages come from PERA's tables, which are by whole year of age and service, so the calculator rounds both down. PERA's final number uses your exact service and age.
What annual increase does the calculator assume?
1.0% each July, the rate paid in July 2026 and expected for July 2027. The first increase comes after 36 months of benefits, and later for reduced retirees who are under 60.
What if I have fewer than 5 years?
PERA pays a money purchase benefit, based on your account balance plus a match, instead of the 2.5% formula. The calculator doesn't estimate it. Your PERA account shows your balance.