The Florida Retirement System covers teachers, state and county employees, and police officers and firefighters across Florida. New employees choose between the Pension Plan, a traditional defined benefit plan, and the Investment Plan, a 401(k)-style account. This page covers the Pension Plan.
The formula
Your yearly benefit is your years of creditable service times a percentage value times your average final compensation (AFC). The percentage value depends on your membership class and on your age or years when you retire.
Tier 1 and Tier 2
Your tier depends on when you were first enrolled:
- Tier 1, enrolled before July 1, 2011: normal retirement at 62 or after 30 years. AFC is the average of your five highest fiscal years of pay. You vest after six years.
- Tier 2, enrolled on or after July 1, 2011: normal retirement at 65 or after 33 years. AFC is the average of your eight highest fiscal years. You vest after eight years.
Regular Class percentage values
| Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Value per year |
|---|---|---|
| Up to age 62 or 30 years | Up to age 65 or 33 years | 1.60% |
| Age 63 or 31 years | Age 66 or 34 years | 1.63% |
| Age 64 or 32 years | Age 67 or 35 years | 1.65% |
| Age 65 or 33+ years | Age 68 or 36+ years | 1.68% |
A Tier 2 teacher retiring at 65 with 30 years and a $60,000 AFC gets 1.60% × 30 = 48% of $60,000, which is $28,800 a year or $2,400 a month.
Special Risk Class
Police officers, firefighters, correctional officers and some medical and emergency staff are in the Special Risk Class. They earn 3.00% per year of service. Tier 1 Special Risk members reach normal retirement at 55 with six years of special risk service, or after 25 years of special risk service. Tier 2 members need age 55 with eight years, or 25 years of special risk service. Thirty years at 3% gives 90% of AFC, and the benefit cannot exceed 100%.
Early retirement
Once vested you can retire before normal retirement age, but FRS reduces the benefit by 5% for each year (5/12 of 1% for each month) you are under it. For Regular Class Tier 2 that is measured from 65. A member retiring at 60 with 20 years takes a 25% cut. Reaching the service milestone, 33 years for Tier 2, removes the reduction at any age.
COLA
FRS retirees get a cost-of-living increase each July, but only for service earned before July 1, 2011. Your COLA is 3% times the share of your service that came before that date. A member hired in 2012 or later gets no COLA, and someone with half their career before July 2011 gets 1.5% a year.
DROP
Members who reach normal retirement can enter the Deferred Retirement Option Program. Your pension is fixed, paid into a DROP account with interest while you keep working, and released as a lump sum or rollover when you leave. Our DROP calculator compares that with simply working longer.
Social Security
FRS members pay into Social Security, so most Florida public workers retire with both a pension and Social Security. The pension and Social Security calculator shows the combined income at each claiming age.