Check with VRSEstimate only, not an official benefit amount. Confirm with VRS (888-827-3847) before you decide.
Your estimated monthly check
Fill in the form and we'll show your plan, your Basic Benefit, the date it's unreduced, your first COLA, and what working longer would add.
Your road to an unreduced benefit
Retire as planned, or work longer?
Your check at every age
The handbooks' own examples
Each handbook works an example with a $42,000 average final compensation and 30 years. Our calculator gives the same answers. Tap one to load it.
- Plan 1, age 50: $42,000 × 1.7% × 30 = $21,420 a year, $1,785.00 a month. Plan 1 Handbook p. 17, Formula Example
- Plan 2, age 60: 4 years at 1.7% plus 26 at 1.65% = $20,874 a year, $1,739.50 a month. Plan 2 Handbook p. 16, Formula Example
- Hybrid, age 60: $42,000 × 1% × 30 = $12,600 a year, $1,050.00 a month, plus the defined contribution account. Hybrid Handbook p. 18, Formula Example
Plan 2 and Hybrid early retirement Check with VRS
VRS doesn't publish how much Plan 2 and Hybrid benefits are cut for retiring early (age 60 with 5 years). The Employer Manual says only what date the cut is counted to, and state law says only that it is an "actuarial equivalent".
So for Plan 2 and Hybrid early retirement we show your unreduced Basic Benefit as an "up to" amount. Your real check will be lower. As a rough guide only, we also show what Plan 1's published rate would give.
Employer Manual p. 4, Reduction by Type: 60/5; Va. Code § 51.1-155(A)(3)Common questions
How is a VRS pension calculated?
Your yearly Basic Benefit is your average final compensation times your plan's multiplier times your years of service credit. The multiplier is 1.7% in Plan 1; 1.7% (service before 2013) and 1.65% (later service) in Plan 2; and 1% in the Hybrid plan. Divide by 12 for the monthly amount.
Which VRS plan am I in?
It depends on your membership date. Before July 1, 2010 and vested by January 1, 2013: Plan 1. July 1, 2010 to December 31, 2013, or earlier but not vested by 2013: Plan 2. January 1, 2014 or later: the Hybrid Retirement Plan.
When can I retire with an unreduced benefit?
Plan 1: age 65 with at least 5 years of service credit, or age 50 with at least 30 years of service credit. Plan 2 and Hybrid: normal Social Security retirement age with at least 5 years of service credit, or age plus service credit equal 90 (example: age 60 with 30 years).
How much is the early retirement reduction?
In Plan 1, 0.5% for each of the first 60 months early and 0.4% for each month after that (more if you're under 55). VRS doesn't publish the rate for Plan 2 or the Hybrid plan, so for those we show your unreduced benefit as an "up to" amount.
Is this the official VRS calculator?
No. This is an unofficial estimate built from VRS's handbooks and the Code of Virginia. It isn't affiliated with the Virginia Retirement System. myVRS has the official Benefit Estimator, and VRS decides your benefit. VRS's phone number is 888-827-3847.
Compare Virginia with other states
- States where teachers don't get Social Security
- Teacher DROP plans by state: No. VRS has no DROP.
- Teacher pension COLAs by state: Plan 2 and Hybrid: the first 2% of inflation (CPI-U) plus half the next 2%, up to 3% a year. Plan 1: up to 5%.
- State taxes on teacher pensions, by state: Your VRS benefit is subject to Virginia income tax if you live in Virginia.
- Teacher pension multipliers by state: Plan 1: 1.7%. Plan 2: 1.7%, or 1.65% for service from 2013. Hybrid: 1.0%. Best 36 months in a row (Plan 1) or 60 months (others).
- Teacher retirement age by state: Plan 2 and Hybrid: Social Security full retirement age with five years, or the Rule of 90 (age + years = 90). Plan 1: 65, or 50 with 30.
Plain-English guides
How your pension works
Plan 1, Plan 2 or Hybrid?Your membership date and the 2013 vesting test decide your plan. All three side by side.→The benefit formulaAverage final compensation × multiplier × years, with every handbook example.→Retiring earlyPlan 1's 0.5% and 0.4% a month, the 50/10 rule, and the unpublished Plan 2 and Hybrid cut.→The Hybrid plan explainedA 1.0% pension plus a savings account: the match, vesting and withdrawals.→Buying service creditRefunded, military, leave and other service you can buy, and what a year adds.→VRS glossaryPlain-English definitions of the VRS terms you'll run into.→
Planning your exit
Leaving teaching: refund or keep your account?Vesting, deferring your pension, what a refund gives up, and the taxes.→Taxes on your VRS pensionFederal and Virginia income tax, withholding on lump sums, and the tax-free credit.→Social Security and VRSNormal retirement age by birth year, and the Advance Pension Option.→
After you retire
Working after retirementPart-time work, the one-month break, and critical shortage positions.→The VRS COLAUp to 5% (Plan 1) or 3% (Plan 2, Hybrid), and when your first one comes.→Health insurance credit$4 a month per year of service after 15 years, and where retirees get coverage.→Death and survivor benefitsWhat your family receives before and after you retire, and retiree life insurance.→
More calculators
VRS has no DROP program; the nearest thing is the Partial Lump-Sum Option (PLOP) for working past your unreduced date. These pages cover teachers in VRS Plan 1, Plan 2 and the Hybrid plan. State police, judges and other special plans have different rules that we don't model.
Source: VRS Plan 1, Plan 2 and Hybrid Retirement Plan Handbooks for Members, 07-2026 editions (VRSHB-1 07-2026, VRSHB-2 07-2026, HybridHB 07-2026), Plan 1 Handbook pp. 13, 15, 17; Plan 2 Handbook pp. 13, 14, 16; Hybrid Handbook pp. 2, 16, 18, 81. Also: Employer Manual pp. 4, 6; Hybrid Plan Overview p. 1; Code of Virginia §§ 51.1-153, 51.1-155, 51.1-169. Last reviewed .