Louisiana LASERS Retirement Calculator
Estimate your Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System pension as a Regular member. Pick your hire-date group, enter your service and average compensation, and see your monthly maximum benefit and when it can start.
Get retirement alerts
We track IRS rule changes, rate updates, and retirement law changes. One email when something moves enough to affect your math.
One formula, three sets of eligibility rules
Annual Maximum Benefit = 2.5% x Average Compensation x Years of Service
Every Regular member accrues 2.5% a year. If you were hired on or before June 30, 2006, average compensation is your highest 36 successive months. Hired on or after July 1, 2006, it's 60 months. The guide's example: $50,000 x 2.5% x 20 years = $25,000 a year, or $2,083.33 a month. Members hired before July 1, 1986 who never took a refund get $300 a year on top.
When you can retire
- Hired on or before June 30, 2006 ("Regular Member"): 30 years at any age, 25 years at 55, or 10 years at 60.
- Hired July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2015 ("Regular Employee 2" or "3"): 5 years at 60.
- Hired on or after July 1, 2015 ("Regular Employee 4"): 5 years at 62.
- All three: 20 years at any age, actuarially reduced.
There's no Rule of 90, no 67-with-7 path and no reduced retirement at 55 with 5 years for members hired after June 2015. If you have less than 20 years, you wait for the age in your group's rule.
The 20-year reduced option
With 20 years of service you can retire at any age, but the benefit is cut based on the number of months until you'd qualify for an unreduced retirement. The Member's Guide doesn't publish the factors, so the calculator shows the amount before the cut and tells you how long you'd have to wait to avoid it. Get the reduced figure from LASERS. DROP and the Initial Benefit Option aren't available if you retire this way.
COLAs
System COLAs need the Legislature's approval and enough investment earnings. They're limited to every other year until LASERS is 85% funded, apply only to the first $60,000 of benefit (indexed to CPI-U from July 2015), and go to retirees who are at least 60. The size ranges from nothing to the lesser of 3% or CPI-U, depending on funding and returns. You can also choose a self-funded COLA at retirement: in the guide's example it lowers a $2,083.33 benefit to $1,650.91, which then grows 2.5% a year.
For high-stakes decisions
Running six-figure numbers? Get a second opinion.
A fee-only fiduciary can model your specific situation. No products sold. No commissions. Most charge $200-500 for a one-time analysis.
Find a fee-only advisorPensionMath earns no referral fee from NAPFA. We link there because it is the most trusted source for fee-only advisors.
Frequently asked questions
How is a LASERS pension calculated?
2.5% x average compensation x years of service. Average compensation is your highest 36 successive months if you were hired by June 30, 2006, and 60 months if hired after. $50,000 x 2.5% x 20 years is $25,000 a year.
When can I retire if I was hired after July 1, 2015?
With 5 years of service at 62 for an unreduced benefit, or with 20 years at any age on an actuarially reduced benefit. There's no Rule of 90 and no earlier age-based option.
When can I retire if I was hired between July 2006 and June 2015?
With 5 years of service at 60, or 20 years at any age, actuarially reduced.
When can I retire if I was hired before July 2006?
With 30 years at any age, 25 years at 55, 10 years at 60, or 20 years at any age, actuarially reduced.
How much is the LASERS early retirement reduction?
It's actuarial and based on the months until you'd be eligible for an unreduced benefit. LASERS doesn't publish the factors in its Member's Guide, so request an estimate. DROP and the Initial Benefit Option aren't available with this option.
Does LASERS have a COLA?
Only when the Legislature grants one, funded by excess investment returns. COLAs are limited to every other year until the system is 85% funded, to the first $60,000 of benefit (indexed), and to retirees 60 or older.