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Eligibility
You are eligible to retire at any age after completing 20 years of creditable service. You may also receive a service retirement benefit at age 62, even if you do not have 20 years of creditable service.
The Benefit
With 20 years of creditable service, you will receive a retirement benefit of 50 percent of your Final Average Salary (FAS). If you are age 62 with less than 20 years of service, your benefit is 2.5 percent of your FAS for each year of creditable service, plus an additional 1.66 percent for any other creditable service not covered by this plan. In either case, your total benefit cannot exceed 50 percent of your FAS.
If you are at least 55 years old at retirement and an alternative regular plan would provide a greater benefit, the greater benefit will be paid.
If you made annuity savings contributions, your benefit will also include an annuity based on those contributions and the interest they earned.
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Estimate Your Pension
Most members can estimate their pension using the benefit calculator in Retirement Online. The calculator uses your salary and service credit information to create an estimate. You can fine-tune your estimate by entering different retirement dates, beneficiaries, earnings, and service credit amounts to see how they affect your potential benefit, and then save or print it. Sign in to your Retirement Online account, go to the ‘My Account Summary’ area of your Account Homepage and click the “Estimate my Pension Benefit” button.
Members in certain circumstances (for example, members who have recently transferred a membership to NYSLRS) are not able to use the Retirement Online calculator at this time. These members should contact us to request an estimate.
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Filing
Your service retirement application must be on file with the Office of the State Comptroller at least 15 days, but not more than 90 days, before the date on which your retirement will occur. The 15-day filing requirement is waived if you are over age 70 at retirement.
To apply for retirement, sign in to your Retirement Online account, go to the ‘My Account Summary’ area of your Account Homepage and click “Apply for Retirement.” You can also apply by mail by submitting the Application for Service Retirement (RS6037).
Read the Receiving Your Benefits section for more information about filing.