Maryland Teachers Pension Calculator
Estimate your Maryland Teachers' Pension System benefit. Pick ACPS (enrolled before July 1, 2011) or the Reformed plan, enter your service and salary, and see your monthly allowance and any early retirement reduction.
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Two plans inside the Teachers' Pension System
Most active teachers are in one of two parts of the Teachers' Pension System. The Alternate Contributory Pension Selection (ACPS) covers members who were enrolled before July 1, 2011. The Reformed Contributory Pension Benefit (RCPB) covers members hired on or after that date, plus pre-2011 members who left unvested and came back after more than four years away. The rules here come from the State Retirement Agency's two benefit handbooks, both revised April 2021.
ACPS: 1.2% x AFC x years through June 30, 1998 + 1.8% x AFC x years after
Reformed: 1.5% x AFC x years of service
ACPS uses the average of your three highest consecutive years of earnable compensation. The Reformed plan uses five. The ACPS handbook's own example: a teacher retiring at 62 with 28 years, six of them before July 1998, and an $88,000 AFC gets 1.2% x $88,000 x 6 plus 1.8% x $88,000 x 22, which is $41,184 a year or $3,432 a month. The Reformed handbook runs the same 28 years and $88,000 at 65 and gets $36,960.
When ACPS members can retire
Unreduced: age 62 with 5 years of eligibility service, or 30 years at any age. If you retire straight from your job, 63 with 4 years, 64 with 3 or 65 with 2 also work. There's no age-60 path.
Early: age 55 with 15 years. The cut is 0.5% for every month you're short of 62, which is 6% a year and tops out at 42% at age 55. The handbook's example is a teacher at 60 with 20 years and a $72,000 AFC: $2,088 a month unreduced, 24 months early, 12% off, $1,837.44.
Leaving before 55 with at least 5 years means a vested allowance at 62. With 15 or more years you can start it at 55 instead, with the same 42% cut.
When Reformed members can retire
Unreduced: age 65 with 10 years, or whenever your age plus eligibility service adds up to 90. The handbook's example is 58 with 32 years, so the Rule of 90 has no minimum age.
Early: age 60 with 15 years, cut 0.5% for each month before 65. The maximum is 30%. At 62 with 20 years and a $72,000 AFC, the handbook shows $1,800 a month reduced 18% to $1,476.
Vesting takes 10 years, and a vested allowance starts at 65. The handbook mentions a reduced early vested allowance too, with an example at 61, but it doesn't say when one can begin. Confirm that with the State Retirement Agency before you plan around it.
The COLA
Each July, retirees who've been retired at least a year get an adjustment tied to CPI. For ACPS members it comes in two parts. The share of your benefit earned through June 30, 2011 is capped at 3%. The share earned after is capped at 2.5% in years the fund meets its assumed return and 1% in years it doesn't. Reformed members get only the 2.5% or 1% cap. A negative CPI year means no COLA, and the negative amount is carried forward against later increases.
The calculator shows your first-year benefit and lifetime totals without a COLA, because the cap that applies depends on investment returns nobody knows yet.
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Frequently asked questions
How is a Maryland teacher's pension calculated?
ACPS members (enrolled before July 1, 2011) get 1.2% of their 3-year AFC for each year through June 30, 1998, plus 1.8% for each year after. Reformed members get 1.5% of their 5-year AFC per year. The SRA handbook example: 62 with 28 years (6 before July 1998) and an $88,000 AFC is $41,184 a year under ACPS.
When can ACPS members retire without a reduction?
At 62 with 5 years of eligibility service, or with 30 years at any age. Members retiring straight from employment can also go at 63 with 4 years, 64 with 3 or 65 with 2. There's no unreduced path at 60.
What is the early retirement reduction?
0.5% for each month before the normal age, 6% a year. ACPS members can go early at 55 with 15 years, measured from 62, with a 42% maximum. Reformed members can go early at 60 with 15 years, measured from 65, with a 30% maximum.
What is the Rule of 90?
It applies to Reformed plan members. When your age plus eligibility service reaches 90, you can retire unreduced. The handbook's example is age 58 with 32 years, so there's no minimum age.
How does the Maryland teachers' COLA work?
It's tied to CPI and paid each July once you've been retired a year. For ACPS members, the part of the benefit earned through June 30, 2011 is capped at 3% and the part earned after at 2.5%, or 1% when the fund misses its assumed return. Reformed members get the 2.5% or 1% cap only.
How long does it take to vest?
5 years of eligibility service under ACPS, 10 under the Reformed plan. A vested ACPS member's allowance starts at 62, or at 55 with a 42% cut if they had 15 years. A vested Reformed member's starts at 65.