This page explains the Mississippi PERS calculator. The rules it uses are in plain English on the formula, tiers and early retirement pages.
- 1
Find your tier
From your membership date: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, Tier 4, Tier 5 (Hybrid Plan). The cut-off dates are July 1, 1992, July 1, 2007, July 1, 2011, March 1, 2026.
Member Handbook (2024), pp. 15, 25, Vesting Requirements; Retirement Tiers; Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-111(a)(1), (d) (H.B. 1 (2025), § 18, pp. 130, 133-134); Member Handbook (2024), pp. 15, 25, Vesting Requirements; Retirement Tiers; Member Handbook (2024), pp. 15, 25; Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-111(a)(2) (H.B. 4073 (2026), § 18, pp. 64-65); Member Handbook (2024), pp. 15, 25; Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-111(a)(2), (e), (f) (H.B. 4073 (2026), § 18, pp. 64-65, 68-69); Mississippi PERS Board Regulation 30, § 102; Hybrid Plan Handbook (2026), pp. 10-13, 17-18; Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-111(a)(3), (g) (H.B. 4073 (2026), § 18, pp. 65, 69-70); Retirement Tiers Overview; Mississippi PERS Board Regulations 48 § 101 and 64 § 101 - 2
Count age and service
Age in completed years on your retirement date. We add a year of service for each year from today to your retirement date (none if you've stopped working).
Member Handbook (2024), pp. 15, 25; Hybrid Plan Handbook (2026), pp. 17-18; Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-111(a) (H.B. 4073 (2026), § 18, pp. 64-65) - 3
Check eligibility
Vested first (4 or 8 years). Then a full benefit at 25 or 30 years, or at 60 or 65; or a reduced benefit in Tier 4 from 60 and Tier 5 from 62.
Member Handbook (2024), p. 15, Vesting Requirements; Hybrid Plan Handbook (2026), p. 12; Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-111(f), (g) (H.B. 4073 (2026), § 18, pp. 69-70); Member Handbook (2024), pp. 25, 62 (Appendix F note); Mississippi PERS 2024 annual report, p. 102, Early Retirement - 4
Apply the formula
Average compensation × Service Credit Factor: 2% a year to 25 years (Tiers 1-3) or 30 (Tier 4), 2.5% after; 1% in Tier 5. Tiers 1-3 get at least $10 a month per year.
Member Handbook (2024), pp. 24, 27, 62, Service Retirement Formula; Base Benefit Estimate Calculator; Appendix F; Hybrid Plan Handbook (2026), p. 17; Member Handbook (2024), p. 25; Mississippi PERS Board Regulation 30, §§ 101(6), 102; Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-111(d)(3) (H.B. 4073 (2026), § 18, p. 68) - 5
Early reduction
Count the years of reduction (the lesser of years short of 30 and years under 65). With no published factor, show the full amount as the most you could get.
Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-111(f), (g) (H.B. 4073 (2026), § 18, pp. 69-70); Member Handbook (2024), pp. 25, 62 (Appendix F note); Mississippi PERS 2024 annual report, p. 102, Early Retirement - 6
COLA and options
3% a year from the handbook's Appendix G table. The Maximum in dollars; the other options by name only; the PLSO from the 2018 factor table.
Member Handbook (2024), p. 63, Appendix G; Member Handbook (2024), p. 66, Appendix I (factors effective July 1, 2018; subject to periodic change)
What the calculator doesn't cover
- The Tier 4 and Tier 5 early-retirement reduction itself: Mississippi PERS publishes no factor.
- Dollar amounts for Options 1 to 4B: no published factors.
- Tier 5's defined contribution account, which depends on your investments.
- Disability retirement, and the benefit of a retiree who goes back to work full time.
- Your average compensation and service: we use what you enter; Mississippi PERS figures them from its records.
- Retiree health premiums (set by DFA) and income tax.
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 our Mississippi PERS sources, the COLA and PLSO tables (read from the handbook's text), the tier and vesting dates, and the H.B. 4073 return-to-work dates. The tests run every time the site is built.
| Example | Source shows | Our engine |
|---|---|---|
| Handbook p. 27, Tiers 1-3: 30 years on $31,500Member Handbook (2024), p. 27, Example Figures (Tiers 1-3) | $1,640.63 | $1,640.63Match |
| Handbook p. 27, Tier 4: 30 years on $31,500Member Handbook (2024), p. 27, Example Figures (Tier 4) | $1,575.00 | $1,575.00Match |
| Fact sheet, Tier 5: 30 years on $65,000Hybrid Plan Fact Sheet (2026), p. 1, Defined Benefit Calculation Example | $19,500 | $19,500Match |
| Handbook p. 42: disability, 27 yearsMember Handbook (2024), p. 42, Age-Limited Disability Plan example (24 years + 3 years to age 60) | $17,325 | $17,325Match |
| Handbook p. 29, COLA Tiers 1-3: $750 a month, 16 yearsMember Handbook (2024), p. 29, Example Figures (Tiers 1-3); Retiree Handbook (2026), p. 13 | $5,026.50 | $5,026.50Match |
| Handbook p. 29, COLA Tier 4: $750 a month, 16 yearsMember Handbook (2024), p. 29, Example Figures (Tier 4) | $4,561.20 | $4,561.20Match |
| Pre-Retirement Guide p. 4: retire at 60, after 5 yearsPre-Retirement Guide (2024), p. 4, The Five-Year Difference | $22,510 | $22,510Match |
| Pre-Retirement Guide p. 4: retire at 65, after 5 yearsPre-Retirement Guide (2024), p. 4, The Five-Year Difference | $29,544 | $29,544Match |
| Pre-Retirement Guide p. 4: retire at 60, after 10 yearsPre-Retirement Guide (2024), p. 4, The Five-Year Difference | $26,096 | $26,096Match |
| Pre-Retirement Guide p. 4: retire at 65, after 10 yearsPre-Retirement Guide (2024), p. 4, The Five-Year Difference | $34,251 | $34,251Match |
| Pre-Retirement Guide p. 4: retire at 60, after 15 yearsPre-Retirement Guide (2024), p. 4, The Five-Year Difference | $30,252 | $30,252Match |
| Pre-Retirement Guide p. 4: retire at 65, after 15 yearsPre-Retirement Guide (2024), p. 4, The Five-Year Difference | $39,706 | $39,706Match |
| Pre-Retirement Guide p. 4: retire at 60, after 20 yearsPre-Retirement Guide (2024), p. 4, The Five-Year Difference | $35,070 | $35,070Match |
| Pre-Retirement Guide p. 4: retire at 65, after 20 yearsPre-Retirement Guide (2024), p. 4, The Five-Year Difference | $46,030 | $46,029Match |
| Handbook p. 64: member 71, beneficiary 56Member Handbook (2024), p. 64 (sister) | $756 | $756Match |
| Handbook p. 64: member 60, beneficiary 39Member Handbook (2024), p. 64 (nephew) | $864 | $864Match |
| Handbook p. 65: Option 4B at 67Member Handbook (2024), p. 65 | 10, 15 allowed | 10, 15 allowedMatch |
The Pre-Retirement Guide rounds to whole dollars, so we allow $1. The PLSO example on the payment options page ($19,688, $39,375, $59,063) is our engine on the handbook's factor table, not a Mississippi PERS example.
Things to check with Mississippi PERS
The sources don't settle these points. Each is labeled "Check with Mississippi PERS" where it shows up on the site.
How much the Tier 4/Tier 5 reduction is. Statute and Mississippi PERS publications say only 'an actuarial equivalent factor for each year of creditable service below 30 or each year of age below 65, whichever is less'. No Mississippi PERS source publishes the factor or table.
We show the unreduced amount and the number of reduction years, but no reduced dollar figure.
What would settle it: A Mississippi PERS Board-adopted Tier 4/5 early retirement factor table or a Mississippi PERS estimate for a Tier 4 member retiring at 60-64 with under 30 years.
Partial years in the Tier 4/5 reduction count. The statute counts 'each year' below 30 years or below 65; it doesn't say whether partial years count.
We show the exact (fractional) shortfall in years for both measures and use the smaller.
What would settle it: A Mississippi PERS regulation or estimate showing a member with, e.g., 27.5 years at 61 years 6 months.
How age is counted for eligibility. Sources say 'age 60 and vested' (63 for the PLSO, 55/60 for the COLA) without saying how age is measured on the effective retirement date.
Completed years of age on the effective retirement date.
What would settle it: A Mississippi PERS regulation or estimate showing age on the first-of-month effective date.
Which fiscal years count as 'before 55/60'. The handbook says 3% simple for each full fiscal year 'prior to the year in which you reach age 55 (or 60)' and compounded 'beginning with the fiscal year in which you turn' that age. Its example (retired at 52, 16 years: 3 simple + 13 compounded) is consistent with counting a fiscal year as compounded when the birthday falls on or before its June 30, but other readings are possible for birthdays early in the fiscal year.
A full fiscal year counts as compounded if you reach 55 (Tiers 1-3) or 60 (Tier 4) on or before its June 30.
What would settle it: A Mississippi PERS COLA notice or estimate for a retiree whose 55th/60th birthday is in July-December.
COLA rates after 50 years. Appendix G stops at 50 full fiscal years.
Beyond 50 years: 3% x years (simple) and 1.03^n - 1 (compounded), rounded to 4 decimals like the table.
What would settle it: A longer Mississippi PERS COLA table.
Whether the PLSO factors are current. The handbook's PLSO table is 'effective July 1, 2018', but Regulation 59 changed the actuarial assumptions effective July 1, 2026 (and in 2020-2024). The factors may have changed.
The July 1, 2018 factors from Appendix I (ages 46-75).
What would settle it: A current Mississippi PERS PLSO factor table or a Mississippi PERS Benefit Estimate Calculator result.
Options 1-4B amounts. Mississippi PERS publishes no option factors (only the actuarial assumptions in Regulation 59).
We show the Maximum only and describe the other options without dollar amounts.
What would settle it: Mississippi PERS option factor tables or a Final Estimate of Benefits.
Exact first day back at work. The law says 'retired for not less than 30 consecutive days from his or her effective date of retirement'. It's not explicit whether the effective date is day 1.
The effective date is day 1, so the first allowed day is 30 days after it (for a July 1 retirement, July 31). For work starting before July 1, 2026 we use 90 days.
What would settle it: A Mississippi PERS Form 4B instruction or the 'Thinking of Returning to Work?' guide.
Compensation cap for 2026-27. The only figure we have is $345,000 for FY 2025 (Summary of Major Plan Provisions as of July 1, 2024).
Not applied in the calculator.
What would settle it: A current Summary of Major Plan Provisions.
Service earned between now and retirement. The engine projects one year of service per year worked when finding eligibility dates. Mississippi PERS credits monthly (since July 2017) and school employees get a full year only for substantially completing the school term.
One year of service per year of work, in whole months.
What would settle it: The member's Mississippi PERS annual statement and audit.
Unused leave conversion. Appendix B lists only 12 rows (15 to 246 days) and doesn't say whether the 'July 1, 2017, and After' column depends on the retirement date or when the leave was earned. Its post-2017 column (3 months for 15-57 days, then a month per 21 days) has no stated rule.
The table row for the largest listed day count at or below yours, using the post-2017 column for retirements on or after July 1, 2017; beyond 246 days we add one month per 21 days (post-2017) or a quarter per 63 days (pre-2017).
What would settle it: A Mississippi PERS regulation or a full Mississippi PERS leave conversion table.
Minimum benefit for partial years. The $10-a-month minimum (Tiers 1-3) applies 'proportionately for each quarter year' of service; sources don't say how partial quarters are rounded.
Whole quarter-years of service, rounded down.
What would settle it: Mississippi PERS Regulation 30 worked example or a Mississippi PERS estimate.
Does unused leave count toward eligibility?. The Member Handbook says unused leave becomes service credit at retirement and that any credit other than membership service needs you to be vested, but it doesn't say whether leave credit can help you reach 25 or 30 years.
The calculator adds leave credit to the benefit formula only, not to the years that make you eligible.
What would settle it: A Mississippi PERS statement or estimate for a member whose leave credit takes them over 25 or 30 years.
Where sources disagreed
- The Member Handbook (Nov. 8, 2024) and Retiree Handbook (Feb. 26, 2026) require a 90-day break before returning to covered work (and 90 days after the next school year starts for educators). H.B. 4073 (2026) cut this to 30 days effective July 1, 2026 and added the 80%-of-salary option; Regulation 34 (amended eff. July 1, 2026) and the Hybrid handbook (May 1, 2026) say 30 days. We follow the law: 30 days for work on or after July 1, 2026, 90 days before. Member Handbook (2024), pp. 52-53; Retiree Handbook (2026), p. 20; H.B. 4073 (2026), §§ 19, 21, pp. 71-77, 82; Mississippi PERS Board Regulation 34 (amended July 1, 2026), §§ 102-106
- H.B. 1 (2025) set Tier 5 retirement at 65 with 8 years, 62 with 30 years, or 35 years at any age, with a reduction at 62 with less than 30 years. H.B. 4073 (2026), effective March 1, 2026, changed the any-age rule to 30 years and dropped the '62 with 30 years' clause. The Hybrid handbook (May 1, 2026) and Tiers Overview say 30 years at any age or 62 and vested. We follow H.B. 4073 and the Hybrid handbook. H.B. 1 (2025), § 18, pp. 131, 136; H.B. 4073 (2026), § 18, pp. 65, 69-70; Hybrid Plan Handbook (2026), pp. 17-18; Retirement Tiers Overview
- Member Handbook p. 14 says a member who repays a refund must be a contributing member for at least eight years to restore the service; pp. 17 and 19 say the service is reinstated 'when you become vested' (4 years for Tiers 1-2). The engine doesn't model repayment. Member Handbook (2024), pp. 14, 17, 19
- The Member Handbook says a surviving spouse gets the higher of an Option 2 benefit or 20% of average compensation. The 2024 ACFR says the Option 2 amount is 'reduced by an actuarially determined factor based on the number of years the member lacked in qualifying for unreduced retirement benefits'. We use the handbook and don't compute the Option 2 amount (no factors published). Member Handbook (2024), p. 22; Mississippi PERS 2024 annual report, p. 104, Ordinary Death Benefit
- Pre-Retirement Guide p. 4 shows $46,030 for $26,250 after 20 years in retirement. Using the Appendix G compounded rate for 19 COLAs (0.7535) gives $46,029.38; exact 3% compounding gives $46,030.09. The other seven figures match the Appendix G rates. Tests allow $1. Pre-Retirement Guide (2024), p. 4; Member Handbook (2024), p. 63
- Option numbering: Mississippi PERS has Maximum, Options 1, 2, 3, 4, 4A and 4B (seven base options). Regulation 48 calls the PLSO 'Option 6'; there is no Option 5 or 6 among the base options in the handbooks. Member Handbook (2024), p. 30; Mississippi PERS Board Regulation 48, § 101.1.c
Retiring: the paperwork
The effective date of retirement is no earlier than the first of the month after termination from all covered employers and PERS's receipt of the completed Form 9A SRVC. Payments for each month are made on the first day of that month (not a weekend or bank holiday). Member Handbook (2024), pp. 48-49, Applying for Service Retirement; Your Monthly Benefit Allocation; Mississippi PERS FAQs (2022), Q3
Sources
- Mississippi PERS Member Handbook ('Providing Benefits for Life') Revised November 8, 2024
- Mississippi PERS Retiree Handbook Revised February 26, 2026
- Mississippi PERS Hybrid Retirement Plan Member Handbook (Tier 5) Revised May 1, 2026
- Hybrid Retirement Plan Fact Sheet As of May 19, 2026
- Mississippi PERS Retirement Tiers Overview Undated (includes Tier 5, so 2025 or later)
- Mississippi PERS Pre-Retirement Guide Revised November 8, 2024
- Mississippi PERS Service Retirement Guide Revised July 27, 2023
- Summary of Major Plan Provisions (Mississippi PERS, MHSPRS, SLRP) As of July 1, 2024
- The 15 Most Frequently Asked Questions of Mississippi PERS Created 10/18/2022
- Membership Eligibility Overview As of March 17, 2016
- Mississippi PERS Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, FY ended June 30, 2024 (Actuarial Section, Summary of Main System Provisions) FY 2024
- Mississippi PERS Board Regulations (Title 27, Part 210): 5, 28, 30, 34, 35, 44, 48, 59, 60, 62, 64, 65 As posted Nov. 2026 (Reg. 34, 59, 60 amended eff. July 1, 2026; Reg. 28, 48 amended eff. March 1, 2026)
- H.B. 1, 2025 Regular Session (As Sent to Governor): Sections 15-23 create Tier 5 and amend Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-111 2025 (Tier 5 sections effective March 1, 2026)
- H.B. 4073, 2026 Regular Session (As Sent to Governor; approved April 8, 2026): amends Miss. Code Ann. §§ 25-11-103, -111, -126, -127 2026 (§§ 17-18 effective March 1, 2026; other sections July 1, 2026)
We cite the page number printed in each publication. Mississippi's code isn't posted by the Legislature; we use the 2025 and 2026 bills, which print the amended sections in full. Last reviewed Nov. 12, 2026.
Source: Mississippi PERS Member Handbook, Revised November 8, 2024, pp. 15, 24, 25, 27, 29, 42, 48-49, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66. Also: Hybrid Plan Handbook (2026); Retirement Tiers Overview; Mississippi PERS 2024 annual report; Hybrid Plan Fact Sheet (2026); Retiree Handbook (2026); Pre-Retirement Guide (2024); Mississippi PERS FAQs (2022); Mississippi PERS Board Regulations 30, 48; Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-111. Last reviewed .
Are Mississippi teachers in Social Security?. Mississippi PERS sources imply coverage (the 'three-legged stool', Regulation 5) but none states plainly that all Mississippi PERS-covered teachers pay into Social Security.
We say only what Mississippi PERS says: plan on Social Security as one leg of retirement income.
What would settle it: A Mississippi PERS or Mississippi Social Security Administrator publication on the state's Section 218 agreement.