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calPERS Retirement Program

calPERS

Full-time appointments that exceed six months and half-time appointments averaging 20 hours per week for one year or longer require membership in the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). Faculty and staff who are members of the CalPERS system are in the "State Miscellaneous, First Tier" plan.

Faculty and Staff excluded from CalPERS membership are covered by the CSU Part Time Retirement Plan.

CalPERS Retirement Contributions:

  1. Employees contribute 5 percent of gross monthly income in excess of $513.00 (Gross Income - $513 x 5%).
  2. The contribution is not subject to federal and state taxes.
  3. The CSU also contributes to CalPERS.

CalPERS Retirement Benefits:

  1. The plan is a defined benefit plan with retirement benefits calculated based on age at retirement, years of service and compensation.
  2. Plan vesting is at five years of PERS credited service.
  3. Employees are eligible to retire and receive a monthly pension benefit when they are at least age 50 and have a minimum of five years of CalPERS-credited service.
  4. The benefit formula is called “2% at Age 55” for employees (except Public Safety employees) hired prior to January 15, 2011. Employees can estimate their retirement benefit by using the CalPERS Table.
    • To determine years of service, employees should refer to their CalPERS member statement and add any planned future service.
    • To determine age, use age at expected date of retirement.
    • The percentage derived from the table is multiplied by "final compensation," which is the average monthly pay for the last consecutive 12 months of employment, or another consecutive 12-month period when average monthly pay was higher.
  5. The benefit formula is called “2% at Age 60” for newly hired CSU employees (except Public Safety employees) employed for the first time on or after January 15, 2011. Click here for the CalPERS Table.
    • To determine years of service, employees should refer to their CalPERS member statement and add any planned future service.
    • To determine age, use age at expected date of retirement.
    • The percentage derived from the table is multiplied by "final compensation," which is the average monthly pay for the last consecutive 36 months of employment, or another consecutive 36-month period when average monthly pay was higher.

CalPERS Public Safety Retirement Formulas:

  1. The benefit formula is called “3% at Age 50 POFF for employees appointed into Management Personnel Plan (MPP) Public Safety positions or appointed into Unit 8 Public Safety positions hired prior to January 15, 2011. View the CalPERS Table.
    • To determine years of service, employees should refer to their CalPERS member statement and add any planned future service.
    • To determine age, use age at expected date of retirement.
    • The percentage derived from the table is multiplied by "final compensation," which is the average monthly pay for the last consecutive 12 months of employment, or another consecutive 12-month period when average monthly pay was higher.
  2. The benefit formula is called “2.5% at Age 55 POFF” for employees appointed into Management Personnel Plan (MPP) Public Safety positions employed for the first time on or after January 15, 2011. hired. View the CalPERS Table.
    • To determine years of service, employees should refer to their CalPERS member statement and add any planned future service.
    • To determine age, use age at expected date of retirement.
    • The percentage derived from the table is multiplied by "final compensation," which is the average monthly pay for the last consecutive 36 months of employment, or another consecutive 36-month period when average monthly pay was higher.
  3. The benefit formula is called “2.5% at Age 55 POFF” for employees appointed into Unit 8 Public Safety positions employed for the first time on or after July 1, 2011. hired. View the CalPERS Table.
    • To determine years of service, employees should refer to their CalPERS member statement and add any planned future service.
    • To determine age, use age at expected date of retirement.
    • The percentage derived from the table is multiplied by "final compensation," which is the average monthly pay for the last consecutive 36 months of employment, or another consecutive 36-month period when average monthly pay was higher.
  4. The employee contribution is 8% for Public Safety Management, less an exclusion allowance of $238.00 for coordination with Social Security.

    5. For eligible CSU Public Safety (R08) employees, the CSU pays for both the employer and employee contributions, and employees do not pay into Social Security.


Planning and Applying for CalPERS Service Retirement:

Employees should begin their retirement planning at least one year before their retirement date. However, they should not submit their application to CalPERS sooner than 90 days prior to their retirement date. Completed applications should be returned to the CalPERS Regional Office closest to the employee.

Refer to the CalPERS Retirement Planning Checklist.

Application Resources: Regional Offices | Calculator


Social Security Benefits:

As a member of CalPERS, employees also participate in Social Security.

  1. Social Security and Medicare taxes are withheld from your paycheck.
  2. 2011 withholding rates are 4.2 percent for Social Security and 1.45 percent for Medicare.
  3. Social Security maximum taxable earnings are $106,800, effective January 1, 2010 and continuing for 2011.
  4. For Medicare's hospital insurance program, there is no limitation on taxable earnings.

Social Security Resources:


Other Retirement Resources: