Virginia VRS Retirement Calculator
Estimate your Virginia Retirement System pension under Plan 1, Plan 2 or the Hybrid plan. Pick your plan, enter your service and average pay, and see the monthly Basic Benefit, whether you'd retire unreduced, and what an early start costs.
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Three plans, one formula
Every VRS plan pays a multiplier times your years of service times your average final compensation. Plan 1 uses 1.7%. Plan 2 uses 1.65% for service from January 1, 2013 on and 1.7% for anything earlier. The Hybrid plan's defined benefit uses 1.0%, and a separate DC account makes up part of the difference.
AFC is the average of your 36 highest consecutive months for Plan 1 and 60 for Plan 2 and Hybrid. The VRS Plan 1 handbook's own example: a $42,000 AFC times 1.7% times 30 years is $21,420 a year, or $1,785 a month.
Which plan you're in turns on two dates, not one. Plan 1 needs a membership date before July 1, 2010 and 5 years of service by January 1, 2013. Someone hired in 2009 who wasn't vested by 2013 is in Plan 2.
Plan 1 eligibility and the reduction
Plan 1 is unreduced at 65 with 5 years or at 50 with 30 years. You can go earlier with a reduction at 55 with 5 years, or at 50 with 10 years under the 50/10 provision.
The reduction runs from the earlier of 65 or the date you'd have finished 30 years. It's 0.5% a month for the first 60 months and 0.4% a month after that. A member retiring at 62 with 20 years is 36 months short of 65 and loses 18%. A member at 55 with 25 years would hit 30 years at 60, so they're 60 months short and lose 30%. 50/10 retirees take an extra 0.6% for each month under 55.
Plan 2 and Hybrid: Social Security age or 90
Normal retirement for Plan 2 and Hybrid is your Social Security normal retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. You can also retire unreduced once your age plus service equals 90. The statute sets no minimum age for that, though few people get there before 60.
Reduced retirement opens at 60 with 5 years. The cut is actuarial and runs to the earlier of your Social Security age or the date you'd have 30 years and a sum of 90. VRS doesn't print a percentage for it in the handbook, the employer manual or the Code, so this calculator shows the unreduced number and flags it. Run the myVRS estimator for the real figure.
The Hybrid DC account
Hybrid members pay 4% into the defined benefit side. The DC account gets a mandatory 1% from you and 1% from your employer. You can add 0.5% to 4% more, and VRS employers match on a set schedule: 0.5% for 0.5%, 1% for 1%, then 0.25% more for each extra 0.5%, topping out at 2.5% when you put in 4%. Maxed out, that's 8.5% of pay a year into the account.
Your own contributions are always yours. Employer DC money vests 50% after 2 years, 75% after 3 and 100% after 4. The calculator's DC projection uses an assumed 6% return and a 4% draw. Those are illustrations, not VRS numbers.
COLA
Plan 1 retirees get all of the first 3% of CPI-U growth and half of the next 4%, for a 5% cap. Plan 2 and Hybrid retirees get the first 2% and half of the next 2%, capped at 3%. The DC account has no COLA. Retire reduced with fewer than 20 years and your first COLA waits until a year after the date you'd have been unreduced.
What this calculator leaves out
It shows the Basic Benefit, with no survivor option, partial lump sum or Advance Pension Option. It assumes you keep working full time until the retirement age you enter. It doesn't model hazardous duty plans (VaLORS, SPORS, hazardous duty political subdivision employees), Hybrid members who transferred from Plan 1 or Plan 2, or political subdivisions that use a 55-with-30 rule for Plan 1.
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Frequently asked questions
How is a Virginia VRS pension calculated?
Multiplier x years of service x average final compensation (AFC). Plan 1 uses 1.7% and the average of your 36 highest consecutive months. Plan 2 uses 1.65% for service from January 1, 2013 on and 1.7% for earlier service, with a 60-month AFC. The Hybrid plan uses 1.0% and a 60-month AFC for its defined benefit. A Plan 2 member with all 25 years after 2012 and a $78,000 AFC gets 0.0165 x 25 x $78,000 = $32,175 a year, about $2,681 a month.
Which VRS plan am I in?
Plan 1 if your membership date is before July 1, 2010 and you had 5 years of service by January 1, 2013. Plan 2 if your membership date is July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2013, or earlier but you weren't vested by January 1, 2013. Hybrid if your membership date is January 1, 2014 or later, or you opted in during the 2014 election window. myVRS shows your plan.
When can I retire unreduced from VRS?
Plan 1: age 65 with 5 years, or age 50 with 30 years. Plan 2 and Hybrid: your Social Security normal retirement age (67 if you were born in 1960 or later) with 5 years, or when your age plus service equals 90. Some political subdivisions require age 55 with 30 years for Plan 1, so check with your employer.
Is there a minimum age for the Rule of 90?
Not in the statute. Code of Virginia § 51.1-153(B)(3) lets a Plan 2 or Hybrid member retire unreduced once age plus service equals 90. In practice you need a long career to get there before 60: 58 with 32 years works.
How much is the Plan 1 early retirement reduction?
Plan 1 cuts 0.5% a month for the first 60 months before you'd qualify unreduced, and 0.4% a month after that. The unreduced date is 65, or the date you'd reach 30 years if that comes first. Retiring at 62 with 20 years is 36 months early, an 18% cut. At 55 with 5 years it's 120 months, 54%. Under the 50/10 provision there's another 0.6% for each month under 55.
How much is the Plan 2 and Hybrid early retirement reduction?
You can retire reduced at 60 with 5 years. VRS reduces the benefit on an actuarial basis, measured to the earlier of your Social Security normal retirement age or the date you'd have 30 years and age plus service of 90. VRS doesn't publish a fixed percentage for this, so the calculator shows the unreduced amount. Confirm the reduced figure with VRS using the myVRS estimator.
How do Hybrid DC contributions work?
You put in a mandatory 1% of pay and your employer adds a mandatory 1%. You can add 0.5% to 4% more, and your employer matches it: 0.5% for 0.5%, 1% for 1%, then 0.25% for each additional 0.5%, up to 2.5% when you put in 4%. At the maximum, 8.5% of pay goes into the account. You also pay 4% into the defined benefit side.
How does the VRS COLA work?
Plan 1 retirees get the first 3% of CPI-U growth plus half of the next 4%, up to 5%. Plan 2 and Hybrid retirees get the first 2% plus half of the next 2%, up to 3%. The COLA starts July 1 after one full calendar year of retirement. If you retire reduced with fewer than 20 years, it waits until a year after you would have been eligible unreduced.