- 1
Find your tier
Tier 1 if you had service before July 1, 2008 and no refund since June 30, 2008. Tier 1 Grandfathered if, on June 30, 2013, you were vested (3 years) and at least 55 or had age plus service of 65. If you don't enter your 2013 service, we estimate it from the date you joined and label the tier "estimated".
Handbook pp. 3-4, Tiers and Grandfathering Status; p. 45, Tier 1 Member, Tier 2 Member; NDCC 15-39.1-04(13)-(16); 15-39.1-15; 15-39.1-20; Tiers info sheet; NDCC 15-39.1-04(13), (15); Handbook p. 45, Tier 1 Grandfathered Member; Valuation (2026) p. 35, Membership; Fast Facts (FY2025) p. 2, Plan Summary - 2
Set your retirement date
A last day of work on the 1st to the 14th gives a retirement date of the 15th; the 15th to the 31st gives the 1st of the next month.
Handbook pp. 21-22, Know your retirement date; p. 22, Apply for Retirement; p. 23, Payment; NDAC 82-05-03-01; Retirement Guide (2023) p. 5, Section C - 3
Check the retirement rules
Unreduced at 65, or by the Rule of 85 (Tier 1 Grandfathered, any age) or the Rule of 90 at 60 or older (the others). Early from 55 once vested.
Handbook p. 17, Eligibility For Benefit; p. 4, Dual Membership; NDCC 15-39.1-10(1); Valuation (2026) p. 36, Normal Retirement; Handbook p. 18, Early Retirement; NDCC 15-39.1-12; NDAC 82-05-04-01; Valuation (2026) p. 37, Early Retirement - 4
Apply the formula
Final average salary (highest 3 or 5 fiscal years) ÷ 12 × service × 2%, rounded to the cent. Early, we cut 0.5% or 0.6667% for each month from your retirement date to the first of the month on or after your unreduced date.
Handbook pp. 18-19, Computing your Benefit; NDCC 15-39.1-10(2); Retirement Guide (2023) p. 3; Handbook p. 18, Final Average Salary; p. 43, Final Average Salary; NDCC 15-39.1-10(2); Retirement Guide (2023) p. 3; NDAC 82-05-04-01 - 5
Options and the COLA
Only single life is in dollars; RIO publishes no option factors. The PLSO is 12 times single life. TFFR has no automatic COLA, so the amount stays flat.
Handbook p. 19; NDAC 82-05-04-02; Handbook pp. 20-21, item 6, Partial Lump Sum Option; NDCC 15-39.1-16(1)(e); NDAC 82-05-02-05; Handbook p. 25, Cost of Living Adjustments; Retirement Guide (2023) p. 11, Post Retirement Benefit Increases; Valuation (2026) p. 38, Cost of Living Increase - 6
After you retire
Return-to-work dates (30 days, or 1 year for a critical shortage area) and the hour limit for your contract length.
Handbook pp. 26-28, Employment after retirement, General Rule; NDCC 15-39.1-19.1(1); Handbook pp. 28-29, Exception A; NDCC 15-39.1-19.2
The rules behind each step are explained in plain English on which tier am I, the benefit formula and early retirement. Try them on your own dates in the calculator.
What the calculator doesn't cover
- Dollar amounts for joint and survivor, term certain and the monthly amount after a PLSO: RIO publishes no factors.
- Final average salary from your pay records. We use the number you enter; TFFR figures it from your fiscal-year salaries.
- Combined TFFR and NDPERS (dual member) benefit amounts, disability and survivor amounts, and the cost of buying service.
- Health insurance premiums and your taxes.
- The repealed Level Income Option, and any future increase the Legislature might grant.
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 the worked examples in the TFFR handbook and RIO's retirement guide, and against the edges of each rule (July 1, 2008, June 30, 2013, birthdays, the 14th and 15th of the month). The tests run every time the site is built.
- Source
- Unreduced
- Our engine
- Unreduced
- Result
- Match
- Source
- Unreduced
- Our engine
- Unreduced
- Result
- Match
- Source
- June 1, 2026
- Our engine
- June 1, 2026
- Result
- Match
- Source
- June 15, 2026
- Our engine
- June 15, 2026
- Result
- Match
- Source
- 0.929
- Our engine
- 0.929
- Result
- Match
- Source
- $36,000
- Our engine
- $36,000
- Result
- Match
- Source
- 700
- Our engine
- 700
- Result
- Match
- Source
- July 1, 2025
- Our engine
- July 1, 2025
- Result
- Match
Jane: the handbook has her returning August 1, 2025; 30 days after July 1, 2025 is July 31, 2025 on our count, so the calculator shows the earlier date.
Things to check with TFFR
The sources don't settle these points. Each is labelled "Check with TFFR" where it shows up on the site. In plain English: what's unclear, what we do about it, and what would settle it.
Your service on June 30, 2013
Grandfathering depends on service on June 30, 2013, which the calculator does not know. If the user does not give it (or a grandfathered flag), we estimate it as one year per fiscal year from the membership date, capped at total service.
What we do: user input; otherwise full-time continuous service from the membership date
What would settle it: The member's tier status on their MyTFFR account summary or benefit estimate (Retirement Guide p. 3).A mid-month retirement date and the early cut
NDAC 82-05-04-01 reduces 'for each month' the early retirement date precedes the reference date. With a mid-month (15th) retirement date the gap includes a half month; the rule does not say whether it counts.
What we do: a partial month counts as a full month (larger reduction)
What would settle it: A MyTFFR benefit estimate for a 15th-of-the-month retirement date, or RIO's written answer.Fractions of a year in the Rule of 85 or 90
Neither the handbook nor the statute says how fractional service (e.g. 0.929 years) and age are combined to date the Rule of 85/90. We convert the shortfall to months and days.
What we do: age in exact months plus days; the rule is met on the first day age + service >= 85/90
What would settle it: A RIO benefit estimate for a member near the Rule of 85/90 with fractional service.Your first possible retirement date
The 1st-14th/15th-31st rule is written for the last day of employment. For the earliest and full-benefit dates (eligibility reached on a birthday, or by age plus service) the handbook (p. 23) says only that the retirement date is the 1st or 15th following 'eligibility'; NDAC 82-05-03-01 says eligibility after the first fifteen days of a month moves payment to the next month.
What we do: the eligibility date itself if it is a 1st or 15th; otherwise the next 15th or 1st
What would settle it: RIO confirmation of the retirement date for a deferred member whose 55th or 65th birthday falls mid-month.The minimum benefit after an early cut
NDCC 15-39.1-10(3) sets a floor of $10/month per year up to 25 years and $15 over 25. The handbook does not mention it, and it is unclear whether it applies after the early-retirement reduction.
What we do: the floor is applied to the final single life amount, with a note
What would settle it: RIO confirmation, or a benefit estimate for a low-salary early retiree.What the other payment options pay
Joint and survivor, term certain and PLSO amounts are actuarial equivalents; RIO publishes only the assumptions (NDAC 82-05-04-02), not factor tables. The only published PLSO illustration says 'approximately 10%'.
What we do: single life only in dollars; PLSO lump sum = 12 x single life; other options named without amounts
What would settle it: A MyTFFR benefit estimate showing all options, or RIO's option factor tables.Reaching 65 without being vested
NDCC 15-39.1-11 says a member who has 'attained normal retirement age' has a vested right; the handbook and valuation require 3 (Tier 1) or 5 (Tier 2) years even at 65.
What we do: 3/5 years required at every age (handbook p. 13; valuation p. 36)
What would settle it: RIO confirmation for a Tier 2 member who reaches 65 with fewer than 5 years.Help paying retiree health premiums
The handbook mentions NDPERS group insurance (Medicare-eligible health only) but no premium subsidy for TFFR retirees and nothing on pre-Medicare coverage.
What we do: no subsidy modeled
What would settle it: NDPERS retiree health plan booklet or rate sheet for TFFR retirees.When the 120-day refund wait starts
The handbook counts the 120 days 'from the last month of TFFR employment'; NDCC 15-39.1-20 counts from when the member ceases to be eligible to participate.
What we do: 120 days after the last day of covered employment
What would settle it: RIO refund application instructions or the Special Tax Notice page.Where sources disagreed
- Handbook p. 3 (and the tiers sheet, the Fall 2025 slides) defines Tier 1 Grandfathered as 'within 10 years of normal retirement as of June 30, 2013'. Handbook p. 45, the statute and the valuation define it as vested on June 30, 2013 AND age 55 or older OR age + service of 65 or more. These agree (55 is 10 years from 65; 65 is 20 age-plus-service points, i.e. 10 calendar years, from 85) except that the short form omits the vesting requirement. Our calculator uses the precise test. Handbook p. 3 vs p. 45; NDCC 15-39.1-04(13); Valuation (2026) p. 35; Fast Facts (FY2025) p. 2
- The handbook and statute say 8% a year; NDAC 82-05-04-01 says 0.6667% a month, which is 8.0004% a year (e.g. 80.004% instead of 80% for 10 years early). Our calculator uses the administrative code's monthly rate because it is how the reduction is applied; the difference is under $1 a month on typical benefits. Tier 1 Grandfathered: 6% a year = 0.5% a month exactly. Handbook p. 18; NDCC 15-39.1-12(2); NDAC 82-05-04-01
- The Retirement Guide (2/2023), pp. 10-11, still describes a Level Income Option with a worked example ($3,000 + $624 supplement = $3,624 before 62, $2,424 after). It was eliminated by HB 1219 (2023) and NDAC 82-05-02-03 was repealed April 1, 2024; the 2026 handbook does not list it. We don't offer it. Retirement Guide (2023) pp. 10-11; NDAC 82-05-02-03; Valuation (2026) p. 43; Handbook p. 20
- The Retirement Guide (2/2023), p. 5, says to return the application at least 120 days before retirement; the 2026 handbook, p. 22, says 60 to 90 days. We follow the handbook. Retirement Guide (2023) p. 5; Handbook p. 22
- The valuation (p. 37) describes the vested pre-retirement death annuity as 'a life annuity of the normal retirement benefit ... with no reduction for the member's age'. The statute says it equals what the beneficiary would get under a 100% joint and survivor annuity (unreduced for early retirement and using the disability factor if the member was not yet eligible for an unreduced benefit). The handbook gives no amount. We don't compute it. Valuation (2026) p. 37; NDCC 15-39.1-17(2)(b); Handbook p. 35
- Handbook pp. 21-22 says a last day on the 1st-14th gives a retirement date of the 15th (same month) and the 15th-31st gives the 1st of the next month; p. 23 says the retirement date is 'the 1st or 15th day of the month following your last day of employment or eligibility'. We follow the detailed rule on pp. 21-22 (also in the 2023 guide, p. 5). Handbook pp. 21-23; Retirement Guide (2023) p. 5
Sources
- Teachers' Fund for Retirement Member Handbook 5/7/2026
- Tier and Grandfathering Membership Status (info sheet) Undated (downloaded Nov. 12, 2026)
- ND TFFR Fast Facts (FY end 6/30/2025) and Plan Summary FY end 6/30/2025
- TFFR Retirement Guide 2/2023
- TFFR Group Benefit Presentation slides Fall 2025
- North Dakota Teachers' Fund for Retirement Actuarial Valuation Report as of July 1, 2026 (GRS) July 1, 2026 (letter dated Oct. 26, 2026)
- TFFR Retired Member News February 2026
- TFFR Board Program Manual Undated (downloaded Nov. 12, 2026)
- North Dakota Century Code chapter 15-39.1, Teachers' Fund for Retirement As posted on ndlegis.gov, Nov. 12, 2026
- North Dakota Administrative Code title 82 (TFFR), chapters 82-04-01, 82-04-02, 82-05-01 to 82-05-06, 82-06-01 As posted on ndlegis.gov, Nov. 12, 2026
- North Dakota 2025 Individual Income Tax booklet (Forms ND-1 and ND-EZ) Tax year 2025
We cite the page number printed on each TFFR or RIO document, the slide number of the benefit presentation, or the section of the North Dakota Century Code (NDCC) or Administrative Code (NDAC). Last reviewed Nov. 12, 2026.
Source: Teachers' Fund for Retirement Member Handbook, 5/7/2026, pp. i, 3-4, 13, 17, 18-19, 20-21, 21-22, 23, 25, 26-28, 28-29, 43, 45. Also: Tiers info sheet; Valuation (2026); Fast Facts (FY2025); Retirement Guide (2023); Benefit presentation (Fall 2025); NDCC 15-39.1-04, 15-39.1-10, 15-39.1-12, 15-39.1-16, 15-39.1-19.1, 15-39.1-19.2; NDAC 82-05-02-05, 82-05-03-01, 82-05-04-01, 82-05-04-02. Last reviewed .