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TRS of Alabama · Methods and sources

How we estimate TRS of Alabama pensions

Every number on the Alabama pages comes from RSA's TRS of Alabama handbooks, the Code of Alabama, RSA's own notices or PEEHIP's sliding-scale sheets. Here's what the calculator does, and what it leaves out.

This page explains the TRS of Alabama calculator. The rules it uses are explained in plain English on the benefit formula, early retirement and payment options pages.

  1. 1

    Find your tier

    From the date you first joined TRS of Alabama or ERS: before Jan. 1, 2013 is Tier 1, on or after is Tier 2. You can also pick the tier yourself.

    Ala. Code § 16-25-1(29); Handbook p. 6, Tier 1 or Tier 2; Ala. Code § 16-25-1(30); Handbook p. 6, Tier 1 or Tier 2
  2. 2

    Project your service

    We add the time from today to your retirement date to the service you enter, one year per 12 months, plus months for unused sick leave from the handbook chart.

    Our assumption (see below); Handbook p. 20, Accumulated Sick Leave Days / Months of Service
  3. 3

    Check the retirement rules

    Your age and service on the 1st of the month: Tier 1 at 60 with 10 years or 25 years at any age; Tier 2 at 62 with 10 years (56 for firefighters, police and correctional officers), or 30 years with a cut.

    Ala. Code § 16-25-14(a)(1), (a)(4); Handbook p. 17, Service Retirement, Tier 1 Members; Ala. Code § 16-25-14(a)(1); Handbook p. 17, Service Retirement, Tier 2 Members; Handbook p. 17, Service Retirement
  4. 4

    Apply the formula

    Average final salary × years and months × 2.0125% (Tier 1) or 1.65% (Tier 2) ÷ 12 = the Maximum Monthly Benefit.

    Handbook pp. 21-22, Retirement Formula for Maximum Monthly Benefit
  5. 5

    Apply the Tier 2 cut and cap

    2% for each year under 62 (prorated by month), then the 80% of average final salary cap.

    Ala. Code § 16-25-14(a)(4), (d) (as amended by Act 2022-222); Handbook p. 17, Tier 2 Members ('After accumulating 30 years of service credit with a 2% reduction for each year from age 62'); Ala. Code § 16-25-14(d) ('shall not exceed eighty percent (80%) of the member's average final compensation'); Handbook p. 22
  6. 6

    Show the options

    The Maximum in dollars; Options 1-3 as 'less than the Maximum' because RSA doesn't publish the factors; the PLOP range and its cost from the handbook table.

    Handbook p. 21, Important; p. 37, RSA Website; Handbook p. 26, Benefit Reduction Table
Our assumption Check with TRS of Alabama

Dates assume you keep working full time.

One year of service per year.

Handbook p. 9 (no more than one year of credit per scholastic year)

What the calculator doesn't cover

How we check the math

The calculator runs on a small engine that reads every rule from one data file, with a source for each. Automated tests check it against every worked example in the TRS of Alabama handbooks and PEEHIP's sheets, plus the edges of each rule (Jan. 1, 2013, the ages 56, 60 and 62, and the 10-, 25- and 30-year marks). The tests run every time the site is built.

How we check the math (TRS of Alabama)
ExampleSource showsOur engineSource
Tier 1: $42,000, 27.5 years$1,937.03$1,937.03Handbook p. 21, Example Match
Tier 2: $42,000, 27.5 years$1,588.13$1,588.13Handbook p. 22, Example; Tier 2 Handbook (2019) p. 16 (age 62) Match
Tier 2 at 57 with 30 years10%10%Ala. Code § 16-25-14(a)(4), (d); Handbook p. 17 Match
PLOP: age 60, $3,300 Maximum, range$4,000-$79,000$4,000-$79,000Handbook p. 25 Match
PLOP: $50,000 lump sum, monthly cost$369$369Handbook p. 25 Match
PLOP: reduced monthly benefit$2,931$2,931Handbook p. 25 Match
PEEHIP: retired January 1, 2012, 33 years, age 62$256.65$256.65PEEHIP Sliding Scale, Non-Medicare FY2026, slide 4 (Example 1) Match
PEEHIP: retired October 1, 2005, 33 years, age 62$81.36$81.36PEEHIP Sliding Scale, Non-Medicare FY2026, slide 5 (Example 2) Match
PEEHIP: retired January 1, 2012, 12 years, age 60$819.45$819.45PEEHIP Sliding Scale, Non-Medicare FY2026, slide 6 (Example 3) Match
PEEHIP Medicare: 28 years$10.90$10.90PEEHIP Sliding Scale, Medicare 2025, slide 2 Match
PEEHIP Medicare: 22 years$53.20$53.20PEEHIP Sliding Scale, Medicare 2025, slide 3 Match
Earnings limit, retired in month 6$23,333.33$23,333.33Postretirement Employment Restrictions 2026 (10-2025) Match
Earnings limit, retired in month 7$20,000.00$20,000.00Postretirement Employment Restrictions 2026 (10-2025) Match

Things to check with TRS of Alabama

The sources don't settle these points. Each is labeled "Check with TRS of Alabama" where it shows up on the site.

Check with TRS of Alabama

TRS of Alabama cuts a Tier 2 benefit 2% for each year you retire before 62 with 30 years. The sources don't say how part of a year counts.

We prorate by month.

Ala. Code § 16-25-14(d); Handbook p. 17
Check with TRS of Alabama

You can retire on the 1st of the month after you reach the age. If your birthday is on the 1st, the sources don't say whether that same day counts.

We follow the words literally: born March 1, the earliest date is April 1.

Handbook p. 17
Check with TRS of Alabama

The lump-sum (PLOP) table and the health-premium age penalty use whole ages. The sources don't say how a partial year is counted.

Age in completed years on the retirement date.

Handbook p. 26; PEEHIP Sliding Scale, Non-Medicare FY2026, slides 1, 4, 6
Check with TRS of Alabama

The sick-leave chart in the handbook stops at 442 days (29 months). We don't have the chart for more days.

Above 442 days we continue the chart's pattern of 15 days per month and say so.

Handbook p. 20; Ala. Code § 16-25-11.1
Check with TRS of Alabama

If you had TRS of Alabama or ERS service before 2013, took a refund and came back later, the sources don't say whether you are Tier 1 or Tier 2.

We go by the first date entered; you can choose your tier yourself.

Ala. Code § 16-25-1(29)-(30); Handbook pp. 6, 11
Check with TRS of Alabama

We have PEEHIP's 2025 numbers for Medicare retirees, not 2026.

2025 subsidy ($235) and the $25 base premium, labeled 2025.

PEEHIP Sliding Scale, Medicare 2025, slide 1; Non-Medicare FY2026, slide 3
Check with TRS of Alabama

The health premium discount or penalty is set by service above or below 25 years. Examples only use whole years.

We count months.

PEEHIP Sliding Scale, Non-Medicare FY2026, slide 1; Ala. Code § 16-25A-8.1
Check with TRS of Alabama

In October 2026 TRS of Alabama paid a one-time bonus to many retirees. The law's formula is '$1 per month for each year of service'; we haven't confirmed how RSA turned that into a dollar amount.

Not calculated.

Act 2026-601 (HB239), Section 3(b)
Check with TRS of Alabama

The handbook's paycheck example takes out FICA (Social Security and Medicare tax), which suggests TRS of Alabama jobs are covered, but no source we read says so outright.

Nothing in the calculator depends on it.

Handbook p. 33
Check with TRS of Alabama

Dates assume you keep working full time.

One year of service per year.

Handbook p. 9 (no more than one year of credit per scholastic year)

Where sources disagreed

Sources

We cite the page number printed on each handbook page. Last reviewed Nov. 12, 2026.

Found a mistake?Email hello@teacherpensioncalculator.com with the page, what you entered, and what TRS of Alabama told you. We fix confirmed errors and note the change.
The official numbersOnly TRS of Alabama can tell you your actual benefit. Use the calculator in your MOS account at mso.rsa-al.gov or call 877-517-0020.

Source: TRS Member Handbook, July 2026 edition (back cover "7-2026"), pp. 6, 11, 17, 20, 21-22, 21, 22, 25, 26, 33, 37. Also: Code of Alabama Title 16, Ch. 25 and 25A; Our assumption; PEEHIP Sliding Scale, Non-Medicare FY2026; PEEHIP Sliding Scale, Medicare 2025; Non-Medicare FY2026; Act 2026-601; Tier 2 Member Handbook; Postretirement Employment Restrictions 2026; the options are now in subsection. Last reviewed .