Rhode Island ERS Retirement Calculator
Estimate your Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island pension as a state employee or teacher. It splits your service at July 1, 2012, applies the right schedule to each part, and checks when you can retire and what going early costs.
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Two pieces: before and after July 1, 2012
The 2011 Rhode Island Retirement Security Act changed accruals for all service from July 1, 2012 on. Service earned before that date kept the old schedules. So nearly every current member's pension has two parts, added together and multiplied by final average salary. The rules here come straight from R.I. Gen. Laws 36-10-10 (state employees) and 16-16-13 (teachers), which use the same numbers.
Annual Benefit = (pre-2012 credit + post-2012 credit) x FAS
capped at 75% of FAS (Schedule B) or 80% (Schedule A)
Pre-2012 service: Schedule A or B
Schedule B covers anyone who joined after July 1, 2005 or had fewer than 10 years of contributory service by then: 1.6% a year for years 1-10, 1.8% for 11-20, 2.0% for 21-25, 2.25% for 26-30 and 2.5% for 31-37. Schedule A covers members with 10 years by July 1, 2005: 1.7% for years 1-10, 1.9% for 11-20 and 3.0% for 21-34. For anyone not eligible to retire by Sept. 30, 2009, Schedule A stops at that date and service from Oct. 2009 through June 2012 uses the Schedule B rates for those year numbers.
A member with 20 years on June 30, 2012 under Schedule B has 16% + 18% = 34% of FAS banked from that service alone.
Post-2012 service: 1%, or 2% for 20-year members
Every year from July 1, 2012 earns 1% of FAS. Members who had 20 or more years of total service on June 30, 2012 earn 2% for each year from July 1, 2015 on. The 2012-2015 years stay at 1%.
That 20-year member who keeps working to 34 years adds 3% for 2012-2015 and 22% for the 11 years after, for 59% of FAS. On an $80,000 FAS that's $47,200 a year. Someone hired after June 2012 with 30 years gets 30%, or $24,000 on the same FAS.
Final average salary is 3 years again
For retirements on or after July 1, 2024, FAS is the highest three consecutive years of compensation. Before that, members who weren't eligible to retire by Sept. 30, 2009 used five. P.L. 2024, ch. 117 changed it back. Overtime and payments at termination for unused leave don't count.
When you can retire
You need 5 years of contributory service. The unreduced age is your Social Security full retirement age, which is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. Members who had 5 or more years by June 30, 2012 get that age lowered in proportion to their 2012 service, but never below 59 or below their old retirement age. ERSRI prints the result on your statement, so enter it in the calculator if you have it.
Active members can also retire unreduced with these combinations: 65 with 30 years, 64 with 31, 63 with 32, or 62 with 33.
Early retirement
With 20 or more years you can retire up to five years before your eligible age. The statute sets the cut by the month: 0.75% a month in the first year early (9% a year), 0.667% in the second (8%), and 0.583% in years three through five (7% each). Five years early costs 38% for life. Two years early costs 17%.
Members with 10 or more years by June 30, 2012 have one more choice: retire on their old eligibility date with a benefit frozen at their June 30, 2012 service and salary. The calculator doesn't model that option. Ask ERSRI for both numbers.
The COLA
For members retiring after June 30, 2012, the adjustment starts at the later of the third anniversary of retirement or Social Security retirement age. The rate is half of the five-year average investment return above 5.5% (between 0% and 4%) plus half of CPI-U (up to 3%), never above 3.5%. It applies only to the first $25,855 of the annual benefit, indexed yearly since 2016. Until the combined funded ratio of ERSRI and the judicial and state police plans tops 75%, members get 25% of the calculated adjustment. Confirm the current limit and funding status with ERSRI.
The defined contribution plan
ERSRI added a defined contribution plan on July 1, 2012. Its balance is separate from the pension and isn't in this estimate.
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Frequently asked questions
How is a Rhode Island ERS pension calculated?
Your service credit factor times your final average salary. Service before July 1, 2012 earns the old schedules. Schedule B gives 1.6% a year for years 1-10, 1.8% for 11-20, 2.0% for 21-25, 2.25% for 26-30 and 2.5% for 31-37. Schedule A, for members with 10 years by July 1, 2005, gives 1.7%, 1.9% and 3.0% for service through Sept. 30, 2009. Service from July 1, 2012 earns 1% a year, except members who had 20 years by June 30, 2012 earn 2% a year from July 1, 2015. The total is capped at 75% of FAS (Schedule B) or 80% (Schedule A).
What final average salary does ERSRI use?
The highest three consecutive years for anyone retiring on or after July 1, 2024. P.L. 2024, ch. 117 moved it back from five years. Overtime and payments made at termination for unused leave don't count.
When can I retire from ERSRI?
With 5 years of contributory service, at your Social Security full retirement age (67 if born in 1960 or later). Members with 5 or more years by June 30, 2012 get a prorated earlier age, never below 59, that ERSRI shows on their statement. Active members can also retire unreduced at 65 with 30 years, 64 with 31, 63 with 32 or 62 with 33.
Can I retire early from ERSRI?
Yes, with 20 years of service and within five years of your eligible retirement age. The reduction is 9% for the first year early, 8% for the second and 7% for each of the next three, figured by the month: 9% at one year early, 17% at two, 24% at three, 31% at four and 38% at five.
Does ERSRI pay a COLA?
A limited one. For members who retired after June 30, 2012, it starts at the later of the third anniversary of retirement or Social Security retirement age. The rate averages two pieces: the five-year investment return above 5.5% (0% to 4%) and CPI-U (up to 3%), never more than 3.5% in total. It applies only to the first $25,855 of the annual benefit, indexed each year since 2016, and is cut to a quarter while the aggregate funded ratio is 75% or less.
What is the 2% rate for 20-year members?
Members who had 20 or more years of total service on June 30, 2012 earn 2% of FAS for each year worked on or after July 1, 2015. Years between July 2012 and June 2015 still earn 1%. Everyone else earns 1% for all post-2012 service.
Is there a defined contribution part?
Yes. ERSRI's defined contribution plan began July 1, 2012. This calculator covers the defined benefit pension only.