| Category | PEPRA Membership (on or after Jan 1, 2013) | Classic Membership (between 2011 and 2012) | Classic Membership (prior to Jan. 11, 2011) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment and Membership** | Hired by state and new CalPERS member on or after January 1, 2013. | Hired by state and new CalPERS member between January 15, 2011 and December 31, 2012 | Hired by state and new CalPERS member prior to January 11, 2011 |
| Retirement Formula | 2% @ 62 | 2% @ 60 | 2% @ 55 |
| Highest Benefit Factor | 2.5% @ 67 | 2.418 % @ 63 | 2.5% @ 63 |
| Vesting | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years |
| Age Requirement to Retire | 52 | 50 | 50 |
| Salary used to calculate retirement | Average highest 36 months (subject to cap) | Average highest 36 months | Average highest 12 months |
*Public Safety employees should contact their campus benefits office for detailed information.
**There are exceptions to CalPERS membership benefit formula eligibility for employees with previous public agency or reciprocal agency employment.
Employees can view the applicable retirement benefit formula chart by choosing one of the membership benefit publications below. Employees uncertain of their benefit formula can contact their campus benefits office.
Retirement benefits are calculated using a formula with three factors:
"Service Credit (Years)" X "Benefit Factor (% per year)" X "Final Compensation (Monthly $)" = "Unmodified Allowance ($)"
- Benefit Factor - Percentage of final compensation for each year of service credit, based on an employee’s age at retirement and retirement formula(s).
- Final Compensation – Employee’s highest average full-time monthly pay rate for 12 or 36 consecutive months of employment, depending upon the employee’s benefit formula (if the employee pays into Social Security, $133.33 per will be deducted from the employee’s final compensation)
- Unmodified Allowance - Highest benefit payable
Service Credit - Total years of employment with a CalPERS employer. This could include other types of service credit such as sick leave and service credit purchase. Employees can view their Annual Member Statement by logging in to my|CalPERS to view service credit.
Note: Any unused sick leave is converted to additional service credit if the employee retires within 120 days of separation from employment. Eight hours of sick leave equals one day (.004 of a year of service). It takes 250 days of sick leave to receive one year of service credit (.004 x 250 = 1 year).