Estimate your CalSTRS pension using the official formula — service credit × age factor × final compensation — with both benefit tiers and the career factor handled.
Uses CalSTRS published age-factor tables and the standard Defined Benefit formula. CalSTRS COLA is 2% simple annually after retirement.
CalSTRS is one of the largest public pension funds in the world, serving California's public school teachers and educators. Unlike Social Security, your benefit is set by a fixed formula based on three things you can plan around: how long you work, when you retire, and how much you earn at the end.
Annual Pension = Service Credit × Age Factor × Final Compensation
Each lever is straightforward:
| Feature | 2% at 60 | 2% at 62 (PEPRA) |
|---|---|---|
| Who's in it | First hired on or before Dec 31, 2012 | First hired on or after Jan 1, 2013 |
| 2.0% age factor at | Age 60 | Age 62 |
| 2.4% max age factor at | Age 63+ | Age 65+ |
| Career factor | +0.2% with 30+ yrs (cap still 2.4%) | None |
| Final compensation | Highest 12 months (25+ yrs) or 36 months | Highest 36 months only |
| Minimum retirement age | 50 (with 30 yrs) / 55 (with 5 yrs) | 55 (with 5 yrs) |
Both tables peak at 2.4% — the same maximum — they just reach it at different ages.
| Age | 2% at 60 Factor | 2% at 62 Factor |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 1.100% | — |
| 52 | 1.340% | — |
| 55 | 1.700% | 1.160% |
| 56 | 1.760% | 1.280% |
| 57 | 1.820% | 1.400% |
| 58 | 1.880% | 1.520% |
| 59 | 1.940% | 1.640% |
| 60 | 2.000% | 1.760% |
| 61 | 2.133% | 1.880% |
| 62 | 2.267% | 2.000% |
| 63 | 2.400% (max) | 2.133% |
| 64 | 2.400% | 2.267% |
| 65+ | 2.400% | 2.400% (max) |
Under 2% at 60, retire with at least 30 years of earned service credit and a 0.2% career factor is added to your age factor, up to the 2.4% cap. So a 60-year-old with 32 years and a 2.0% base age factor uses 2.2%. There is no career factor under 2% at 62 PEPRA — the higher normal retirement age is the trade-off.
Under 2% at 60, if you have at least 25 years of service, final compensation is your highest 12 consecutive months of pensionable pay. Otherwise — and always under 2% at 62 — it is the highest 36 consecutive months. The 12-month version produces a higher figure because it captures a single peak year, which is one of the most valuable features of the older tier.
A 2% at 60 teacher retires at age 60 with 30 years of service and a final compensation of $95,000:
CalSTRS pension is fully taxable on your federal return (except the portion that represents previously-taxed contributions) and fully taxable on your California return at the regular ordinary brackets. California exempts Social Security but does NOT exempt CalSTRS pensions. Plan your retirement-year tax with this in mind.
CalSTRS provides an automatic 2% simple (not compounding) COLA each September, starting the year after retirement. The Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account (SBMA) provides additional purchasing-power protection that lifts long-retired members' benefits back toward roughly 85% of their original purchasing power.
Most CalSTRS-covered teaching jobs do not pay Social Security, so members fund retirement through CalSTRS contributions instead. If you also earned Social Security at another job, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) used to reduce that benefit. The Social Security Fairness Act of 2025 eliminated both, restoring full Social Security for current CalSTRS retirees who qualified through other employment — a major win for the CalSTRS community.