Check with MTRSEstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with MTRS (617-679-6877) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly check
Fill in the form and we'll show your tier, your age factor, how close you are to the 80% cap, any RetirementPlus bonus, your Option A, B and C amounts, and what working longer would add.
Your age factor
Your road to the top benefit
Retire as planned, or work longer?
Your check at every age
MTRS's own examples
MTRS's Ready for Retirement guide works three examples, each a veteran in RetirementPlus with an Option C beneficiary. Our calculator gives the same answers, to the dollar MTRS rounds to. Tap one to load it.
- Tier 1: age 58, 35 years, $65,000: 0.018 × 35 = 63% + 22% RetirementPlus, capped at 80%. Option A $52,000 + $300 veteran's benefit = $52,300 a year. Ready for Retirement 2026, p. 35, Example: Tier 1
- Tier 2, under 30 years: age 60, 28 years, $60,000: 0.0145 × 28 = 40.6%. Option A $24,360 + $300 veteran's benefit = $24,660 a year. Ready for Retirement 2026, p. 35, Examples: Tier 2, with less than 30 years
- Tier 2, 30 years: age 60, 30 years, $63,000: 0.01625 × 30 = 48.75% + 14% RetirementPlus. Option A $39,533 + $300 veteran's benefit = $39,833 a year. Ready for Retirement 2026, p. 35, Examples: Tier 2, with 30 years or more
The middle example is why 30 years matters in Tier 2: with 28 years the member gets the regular formula and a refund of the extra RetirementPlus contributions. See RetirementPlus.
RetirementPlus requirements Check with MTRS
If you say you're in RetirementPlus and have 30+ years, we assume at least 20 are MTRS/Boston teaching service and that you have (or will pay for) five years at 11%, unless you enter fewer teaching years.
We assume you meet both unless you enter fewer teaching years.
Ready for Retirement 2026, p. 12 and p. 32; M.G.L. c. 32, § 5(4)(i)-(ii)Common questions
How is an MTRS pension calculated?
Age factor × years of creditable service × salary average, plus any RetirementPlus percentage, up to 80% of your salary average. That's your yearly Option A benefit; divide by 12 for the monthly amount.
Am I Tier 1 or Tier 2?
It depends on your effective membership date in any Massachusetts public retirement system: Tier 1 if before April 2, 2012, Tier 2 if on or after.
When can I retire?
Tier 1: 20 years of service at any age, or age 55 with 10 years. Tier 2: age 60 with at least 10 years.
Is there an early-retirement penalty?
No separate penalty. Retiring younger means a smaller age factor: Tier 1 rises from 0.015 at 55 to 0.025 at 65; Tier 2 from 0.0145 at 60 (0.01625 with 30 years) to 0.025 at 67.
What is RetirementPlus?
An enhanced benefit for members who contribute 11%. With 30 years (at least 20 as an MTRS or Boston teacher) it adds 2% for each full year over 24 (Tier 1) or 23 (Tier 2): 12% or 14% at 30 years. The total still can't pass 80%.
Is this the official MTRS calculator?
No. This is an unofficial estimate built from the Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System's Ready for Retirement guide, its web pages and M.G.L. c. 32. It isn't affiliated with MTRS. MyTRS has your official estimate, and MTRS decides your benefit. MTRS's phone number is 617-679-6877.
Compare Massachusetts with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security: Massachusetts teachers pay into MTRS instead of Social Security and earn no Social Security credits for it.
- Teacher DROP plans by state: No. MTRS has no DROP or similar option.
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: Not automatic. Each year lawmakers vote on a COLA of up to 3% on the first $13,000. July 2026: 3%, or $390 a year.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: Your MTRS pension is exempt from Massachusetts income tax while you live in Massachusetts.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: An age factor from a table (up to 2.5% at 65) × years × salary average (3 years in Tier 1, 5 in Tier 2). Max 80%.
- Teacher retirement age by state: No single full-benefit age. Your age factor grows each year and tops out at 2.5% at 65 (Tier 1) or 67 (Tier 2).
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
Tier 1 or Tier 2?Joined before April 2, 2012? Tier 1. Both tiers side by side, plus contribution rates by membership date.→The age factor chart and formulaAge factor × service × salary average, both tiers' tables, a percentage chart and the 80% cap.→RetirementPlus: the 30-year bonus2% a year over 24 (Tier 1) or 23 (Tier 2) once you reach 30 years, the 20-year teaching rule and the 11%.→Retiring earlyNo penalty, just a smaller age factor: what each age pays in Tier 1 (from 55, or 20 years) and Tier 2 (from 60).→Buying service creditOther public service, substitute and out-of-state teaching, military and more, with the limits and interest.→MTRS glossaryPlain-English definitions of the MTRS terms you'll run into.→
Planning your exit
Leaving teaching: refund or keep your account?Vesting after 10 years, a pension later at 55 or 60, refund interest, and what a refund gives up.→Taxes on your MTRS pensionNo Massachusetts income tax while you live there; about 95-98% federally taxable.→Social Security and MTRSMassachusetts teachers don't pay into Social Security for MTRS work. What that means, and Medicare.→
After you retire
Working after retirement1,200 hours, the earnings limit, the extra $25,000, the 60-day wait and critical shortage waivers. There's no DROP.→The MTRS COLAVoted each year, at most 3% of the first $13,000. Your first COLA date and the history.→Retiree health insuranceYour district provides it, not MTRS: the GIC's RMT program or a local plan, plus Medicare.→Death and survivor benefitsWhat your family receives before and after you retire, with MTRS's member-survivor example.→
More calculators
MTRS has no DROP (deferred retirement option plan): none appears in its publications. Ready for Retirement 2026 (no such program described) Retirees who go back to public work follow the earnings and hours limits instead. These pages cover MTRS members: Massachusetts public school, charter and collaborative teachers outside Boston. Boston Public Schools teachers are in the Boston Retirement System, which we don't model. Introduction to the MTRS (Spring 2026), p. 3, What is the MTRS?; M.G.L. c. 32, § 5(4)(i); Ready for Retirement 2026, p. 32; MTRS web page 'Contribution rates explained' (TARP)
Source: MTRS Ready for Retirement reference guide, 2026, pp. 2, 6, 7, 8, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35. Also: MTRS web pages 'Retiring from the MTRS', 'Membership Tier 1 vs. Tier 2', 'Contribution rates explained'; Introduction to the MTRS (Spring 2026) p. 8; M.G.L. c. 32, §§ 5, 10. Last reviewed .