Check with TRS of KentuckyEstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with TRS of Kentucky (800-618-1687) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly check
Fill in the form and we'll show your account type, its multiplier steps, your Option I benefit, the date it's unreduced, your first COLA, retiree health under the 15-year rule, and what working longer would add.
Retiree health: the 15-year rule
Your road to an unreduced benefit
Retire as planned, or work longer?
Your check at every age
TRS of Kentucky's own examples
The TRS 4 plan description works two examples. Our calculator gives the same answers. Tap one to load it.
- TRS 4, age 65, 5 years: 5 × 1.9% × $40,000 = $3,800 a year, $316.67 a month. TRS 4 SPD p. 8, Calculating foundational benefit annuity
- TRS 4, age 57, 30 years: 30 × (1.7% age factor + 0.5% career factor) × $60,000 = $39,600 a year, $3,300.00 a month. TRS 4 SPD p. 8, Calculating foundational benefit annuity
- TRS 3, age 56, 25 years (our illustration, not a TRS of Kentucky example): early, so the 6%-a-year cut applies. See what one more year adds.
Early retirement in part-years Check with TRS of Kentucky
TRS of Kentucky's examples of the early-retirement cut use whole years only (5% or 6% for each year). The sources don't say what happens with part of a year.
We prorate by month: age 57 and 6 months counts as 2.5 years under 60.
KRS 161.600(1)(b), (2)(d); TRS 4 SPD p. 13Common questions
How is a TRS of Kentucky pension calculated?
Years of service × multiplier × final average salary gives your yearly Option I benefit; divide by 12 for the monthly amount. The multiplier depends on your account type (TRS 1, 2, 3 or 4), whether you work for a school district or a university, and, in TRS 2, TRS 3 and TRS 4, how many years you have.
Which TRS of Kentucky account type am I?
It's set by the date you first entered TRS of Kentucky: TRS 1, before July 1, 2002; TRS 2, July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2008; TRS 3, July 1, 2008 through Dec. 31, 2021; TRS 4, on or after Jan. 1, 2022.
When can I retire with no reduction?
TRS 1, 2 and 3: 27 years of service at any age, or age 60 with five years. TRS 4: age 57 with 30 years, age 60 with 10 years, age 65 with five years.
How much is the early retirement cut?
TRS 1 and 2: 5% for each year under 60 or under 27 years, whichever is fewer (up to 25%). TRS 3: 6% a year (up to 30%). TRS 4: 6% for each year under 60 or under 30 years (up to 18%).
Do I need 15 years for retiree health?
If you joined on or after July 1, 2008 (TRS 3 or TRS 4), yes: you need at least 15 years of service for TRS of Kentucky retiree health coverage. Members who joined earlier need 5.
Is this the official TRS of Kentucky calculator?
No. This is an unofficial estimate built from TRS of Kentucky's plan descriptions and bulletins and KRS Chapter 161. It isn't affiliated with the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Kentucky. Pathway has your official estimate, and TRS of Kentucky decides your benefit. TRS of Kentucky's phone number is 800-618-1687.
Compare Kentucky with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security: School district teachers pay into TRS, not Social Security. TRS replaces Social Security for them.
- Teacher DROP plans by state: No. TRS of Kentucky has no DROP. Retirees can work again only under the return-to-work rules.
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: 1.5% every July 1. For TRS 4 (the newest members), the board can cut future COLAs if funding falls below 90%.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: Kentucky taxes only the part earned after Jan. 1, 1998, and only above a $31,110 pension exclusion.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: TRS 1-3: 1.7% to 2.5% a year by tier and years, and 3% for years over 30. TRS 4 uses age and career factors. Best 5 years' pay.
- Teacher retirement age by state: TRS 1-3: 27 years at any age, or 60 with five. TRS 4: 57 with 30 years, 60 with 10, or 65 with five.
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
TRS 1, 2, 3 or 4?Your entry date sets your account type. All four side by side, school district and university.→The benefit formulaService × multiplier × final average salary, every multiplier step, and the TRS 4 age and career factors.→Retiring early5% or 6% a year under 60 or under 27 years (30 for TRS 4), with tables for every account type.→Buying service creditRefunded, leave, military and out-of-state service, installments, and what a year adds.→TRS of Kentucky glossaryPlain-English definitions of the TRS of Kentucky terms you'll run into.→
Planning your exit
Leaving teaching: refund or keep your account?Vesting after five years, drawing a pension later, and what a refund gives up.→Taxes on your TRS of Kentucky pensionKentucky taxes only post-1998 service, above the $31,110 exclusion. Plus federal tax and withholding.→Social Security and TRS of KentuckyWhy school-district teachers don't pay in, how university members differ, and the WEP/GPO repeal.→
After you retire
Working after retirementThe earnings limits, waiting periods, critical shortage jobs and the waiver. There's no DROP.→The TRS of Kentucky COLA1.5% every July 1, prorated the first year, and the TRS 4 risk controls.→Retiree health and the 15-year rule15 years for members who joined after June 2008, KEHP before 65, and the Medicare plan's cost.→Death and survivor benefitsWhat your family receives before and after you retire, and TRS of Kentucky life insurance.→
More calculators
TRS of Kentucky has no DROP (deferred retirement option plan): none appears in its plan descriptions or in KRS Chapter 161. Retirees who go back to work follow the return-to-work rules instead. TRS 4 SPD, Contents; TRS 1-3 SPD (2011), Table of Contents These pages cover TRS of Kentucky members in school districts, education agencies and universities. University optional retirement plans and the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority systems have their own rules that we don't model.
Source: TRS Summary Plan Descriptions and Service Retirement bulletins, TRS 4 SPD January 2022; TRS 1-3 SPD 2011; Service Retirement bulletins March 2023, TRS 1-3 Service Retirement bulletin pp. 1, 1-2, 2; TRS 4 SPD pp. 6, 7, 8, 10-11, 13, 17; TRS 1-3 SPD (2011) pp. 38-39, 39, 55, 56-57; TRS 4 Service Retirement bulletin p. 1. Also: TRS Basics 1-3 pp. 1, 2; 2026 Turning 65 booklet p. 4; 2027 KEHP rate chart p. 1; TRS Basics 4 p. 1; KRS 161.470, 161.600, 161.620, 161.675. Last reviewed .