Vocations · Professional Development · Retirement

What the pension
is really worth.

Type the formula from your plan statement and the age you want to retire. The estimator shows the monthly check, what leaving early costs and its value as a lump sum.

Estimate my pensionWhat you get

The pension value estimator

The worked example is a teachers’ plan with 28 years of service and retirement at 60. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

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What you get

Vocations · Professional DevelopmentFree

What you finish with
The yearly and monthly pension, the share of final pay it replaces, the early-retirement reduction, the lump-sum value today and the benefit at other ages. It prints as a summary to bring to the plan’s own estimate.
Who it is for
Teachers, public employees and others with a traditional pension, and adults choosing a retirement date or comparing a pension to a lump-sum offer.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Professional Development space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Copy the formula from your statement.
  2. Type your years of service.
  3. Set the age you want to retire.
  4. Add the early reduction.
  5. Compare ages in the table.

Estimate my pension

How the estimate works

The usual formula, an early reduction, then the value of the payments today.

The worked example: a teachers’ retirement planFormula$40,3202% × 28 × $72,000At 60$36,288−5% × 2 yearsA month$3,024for lifeValue today$652,81625 years at 4%, 1% raiseThe worked example: a teachers’ retirement planFormula$40,3202% × 28 × $72,000At 60$36,288−5% × 2 yearsA month$3,024for lifeValue today$652,81625 years at 4%, 1% raise
The formula sets the full benefit; retiring early reduces it; the stream of payments, discounted to today, is its lump-sum value.

The formula

Most traditional pensions pay a percentage of your final average salary for each year of service. Two percent for 28 years replaces 56 percent of that salary at the plan’s normal retirement age. Retiring earlier usually takes a fixed percentage off for each year, for life.

A lump sum to compare

Adding up each year’s payment, raised by any cost-of-living adjustment and discounted back to today, gives the size of an account that could pay the same. It helps when a plan offers a lump sum instead, or when you want to see the pension next to other savings. Private plans are covered by federal ERISA rules and insured by the PBGC; public plans follow their own laws.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. Types of retirement plans and your rights under ERISA (dol.gov/ebsa).
  2. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. How pensions work and what PBGC insures (pbgc.gov).
  3. Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset (ssa.gov).
  4. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov. Present value and compound interest (investor.gov).

An estimate from the usual formula; your plan’s rules decide the real benefit. Ask the plan for an official estimate. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.