Sources
Plan rules come from primary sources only: each retirement system's member handbook, benefit tables and official website, and the state law that sets the benefit. Social Security figures come from the Social Security Administration, and tax and contribution limits from the IRS. Every plan page lists the sources it was built from.
Formulas
Each plan calculator uses that plan's formula: its multiplier or age-factor table, its tiers, its retirement ages and its early-retirement reduction. Where a plan publishes a full table, such as an age-factor or reduction table, we use the table rather than an approximation. Pensions are capped at the maximum each plan allows.
Testing
Before a calculator goes live, we run it against the worked examples in the plan's own publications and against hand-checked cases at the edges of each rule, such as one month short of an eligibility date. Automated checks run every time the site is rebuilt, so a change to one plan cannot quietly break another.
What the calculators assume
Results are before tax and before any payout-option reduction, and they do not add future cost-of-living raises unless the calculator says so. Final average salary is the figure you enter. Plans have rules we cannot see from a few inputs, such as unused sick leave credit, part-time service or special purchase rules, so your plan's statement is the final word.
Updates
We recheck every plan each summer, when most systems update contribution rates and limits, and update pages when legislatures change benefits. Each page shows the date it was last checked. If you spot something out of date, email hello@pensionyears.com.