Check with Alaska TRSEstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with Alaska TRS (800-821-2251) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly benefit
Fill in the form and we'll show your tier, your monthly benefit, when you can retire with no reduction, any early-retirement cut, what working longer adds, your payment options, the Alaska COLA and PRPA, and retiree medical.
When you can retire
Your early-retirement cut
Retire as planned, or work longer?
Your benefit at every age
Alaska COLA and PRPA
Retiree medical
Going back to work
Tier I early-retirement amounts and survivor option amounts for ages DRB doesn't publish are labeled "Check with Alaska TRS": we don't guess them. Tier III members are in the DCR plan, which has no pension to estimate.
Try DRB's examples
DRB's January 2025 seminar handout works two examples on an $85,000 average base salary. Tap one to load it into the calculator. DRB gives no dates, so the birth and entry dates in these links are ours.
- Regular retirement with 22 years: $3,187.50 a month ($38,250 a year). DRB shows $3,187.50.
- Tier II early retirement at 55 years 5 months with 19 years: × 0.623501 = $1,678.26 a month. DRB shows $1,678.26.
- Tier II at 60 with 25 years, spouse 55 (our example): $3,718.75 a month, with the survivor options in dollars at these sample ages.
- Tier I early retirement at 52 with 15 years (our example): $2,125.00 a month before the early cut. DRB doesn't publish Tier I early factors, so we show no reduced amount.
First joined on or after July 1, 2006?
You're in Tier III, the Defined Contribution Retirement (DCR) plan. It's an investment account, so there's no pension to estimate. If you enter a Tier III date, the calculator shows the plan's vesting and retiree medical rules instead. HB 78, which would have let some members choose the pension plan, was vetoed on May 18, 2026, and the veto was sustained the next day. The DCR plan's rules
Retirement booklet (June 2023), p. 2, What Tier Am I?; DCR handbook (2025), p. 3, General Information; p. 5, Membership; AS 14.25.012(c), 14.25.310; HB 78 (34th Legislature), bill history and actions, akleg.gov (fetched Nov. 12, 2026)
Common questions
How is an Alaska TRS pension calculated?
Your average base salary (ABS, your 3 highest annual base salaries ÷ 3) × 2% for each of your first 20 years, plus 2.5% for each year after 20 earned after June 30, 1990. Tier I years earned before July 1, 1990 are always 2%. Divide by 12 for the monthly amount.
Which tier am I in?
It depends on when you first entered Alaska TRS: Tier I before July 1, 1990; Tier II through June 30, 2006; Tier III, the Defined Contribution Retirement (DCR) plan, on or after July 1, 2006. Tiers I and II are the pension plan.
I'm in Tier III. Can I use this calculator?
Tier III is the DCR plan, an investment account, so there is no pension to estimate. The calculator shows the DCR plan's vesting and retiree medical rules instead. HB 78, which would have offered a choice of the pension plan, was vetoed on May 18, 2026, and the veto was sustained.
When can I retire with a full benefit?
Once vested (8 years of membership service): at 55 in Tier I or 60 in Tier II. At any age with 20 years of membership service, or 25 years of credited service with the last five as membership service.
How much does early retirement cut my benefit?
Tier II members can retire from 55. The benefit is multiplied by a factor for your age in years and months, for life: 0.623501 at 55 years 5 months in DRB's example. Tier I members can retire from 50, but DRB doesn't publish the Tier I factors, so this site shows no Tier I early amount.
Does Alaska TRS have a cost-of-living increase?
Two. The Alaska COLA adds 10% of your base benefit while you live in Alaska (Tier II from age 65). The PRPA is a July 1 increase tied to Anchorage inflation, paid wherever you live, from age 60 or after 8 years of payments.
Is this the official Alaska TRS calculator?
No. This is an unofficial estimate built from DRB publications and Alaska law. It isn't affiliated with the Division of Retirement and Benefits. DRB can give you an official estimate; its toll-free number is 800-821-2251.
Compare Alaska with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security: Alaska teachers don't pay into Social Security for their TRS work. Any Social Security would come from other work.
- Teacher DROP plans by state: No. Alaska TRS has no DROP. You choose normal or early retirement and a survivor option.
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: Tier III (the DCR investment plan for newer hires) has no COLA. Tier I and II pensions get a 10% Alaska COLA and an inflation raise.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: Alaska has no state income tax. If you live in another state, that state may tax your pension.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: 2% for each of your first 20 years, 2.5% for each year after 20. Best 3 years' average. Tier III is an investment plan, not a pension.
- Teacher retirement age by state: Age 55 (Tier I) or 60 (Tier II) once vested, or 20 years of Alaska TRS service at any age.
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
Tier I, II or III?The July 1, 1990 and July 1, 2006 dates, what each tier changes, the DCR plan's rules, and the HB 78 veto.→The formula and your ABSAverage base salary × 2% for your first 20 years and 2.5% after, Tier I's pre-1990 years, and DRB's example.→Early retirementFrom 50 (Tier I) or 55 (Tier II): the full Tier II factor table, and why we show no Tier I early amount.→Buying service creditLeave without pay, BIA, outside and military service, the days-to-years chart, and unused sick leave.→Alaska TRS glossaryPlain-English definitions of ABS, membership service, the Alaska COLA, PRPA and other Alaska TRS terms.→
Planning your exit
Leaving: refund or wait?Vesting at 8 years, the refund of your contributions and what it gives up, and buying a refund back.→Taxes on your pensionFederally taxable; Alaska has no state income tax, per DRB; tax on refunds.→Alaska TRS and Social SecurityAlaska teachers don't pay into Social Security through Alaska TRS jobs: what DRB's sources say.→
After you retire
Working after retirementWhen your pension stops, the 60-day or six-month break, and the AS 14.20.136 rehire law. There's no DROP.→Alaska COLA and PRPAThe 10% Alaska COLA for retirees living in Alaska (the 90-day rule) and the July 1 PRPA.→Retiree medicalAlaskaCare: system-paid for Tier I, for Tier II at 60 or 25 years, Medicare at 65, and the DCR plan's rules.→Death, survivor and disability benefitsLump sums, the spouse's 50% option, occupational death at 40% of pay, and disability at 50% plus 10% per child.→
More calculators
Alaska TRS has no DROP (deferred retirement option plan): DRB lists only normal or early retirement and the survivor options. Handbook (2011), p. 18, Retirement Benefit Options; Seminar handout (Jan. 6, 2025), slide 14, Retirement Decision Points These pages cover Alaska TRS members: certificated teachers, school nurses and others in jobs that need a teaching certificate. Other school staff are usually in the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) instead. Handbook (2011), p. 5, Simultaneous TRS and PERS Credit; AS 14.25.040(d)
Source: Alaska Teachers' Retirement System Information Handbook (Tiers I and II), 2011 edition (current on drb.alaska.gov), checked against the TRS Retirement Application Instruction Booklet (June 2023), pp. 5, 6, 17, 18, 21-22, 29. Also: Retirement booklet (June 2023), pp. 2, 3, 4, 6, 27; DCR handbook (2025), pp. 3, 5; Seminar handout (Jan. 6, 2025), slides 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 29; HB 78 (34th Legislature) bill history; AS 14.25.012, 14.25.040, 14.25.310. Last reviewed .