How to Read Your TSERS Retirement Estimate and MARS Statement

Your Member Annual Retirement Statement arrives in ORBIT once a year, and most members glance at the bottom-line number without checking the inputs behind it. That's a problem — if the service credit total is wrong or a salary year is missing, your projected benefit is wrong too, and you won't find out until the post-retirement audit adjusts your check.

What the MARS Statement Shows

The MARS is a snapshot of your TSERS account as of a specific date. It reports:

• Total membership service credit — the years and months you've contributed to TSERS
• Withdrawn service — any period where you took a refund of your contributions (these years don't count unless you buy them back)
• Military service credit — if purchased or eligible under statutory provisions
• Beneficiary designations — who's currently listed for the Guaranteed Refund and the Contributory Death Benefit
• Projected retirement benefit — estimated monthly Maximum Allowance at your earliest unreduced retirement date

The MARS does not show your AFC calculation in detail. For that, you need to run a Custom Benefit Estimate in ORBIT, which lets you model different retirement dates, salary assumptions, and sick leave projections.

Checking Your Service Credit

Open your MARS and compare the total creditable service against your own employment records. Common discrepancies include:

Gaps from job changes. If you moved between TSERS-covered employers — say, from a school district to a state agency — and there was a gap in reporting, you might be missing months. Each employer submits service data independently.

Withdrawn service not showing. If you left state employment, took a refund, and returned, those years appear under "withdrawn service" until you repurchase them. They're not included in the benefit formula until you pay them back.

Military service missing. If you served before your state career, military service credit may not appear automatically. Ask RSD whether your service qualifies and whether it must be purchased; the cost basis depends on the statutory percentage rate or the full actuarial cost.

Any discrepancy should be reported to the Retirement Systems Division at (919) 814-4590 immediately. Formal service credit audits can take months to resolve, so starting early — 12 months before your target retirement date — gives you time to correct the record before you file.

Reading the Custom Benefit Estimate

When you run a Custom Benefit Estimate in ORBIT, the system generates projected benefits for each of the six payment options at your selected retirement date. Here's what to look for:

The AFC line. ORBIT projects your Average Final Compensation based on your current salary and an assumed annual increase. If you're not expecting a raise — or if you're stepping down to part-time — the estimate will be too high. Replace ORBIT's projected salary with your actual expected earnings and rerun.

The sick leave line. ORBIT estimates your unused sick leave balance at retirement. Verify this against your employer's leave records. Every 20 days of unused sick leave converts to one month of creditable service, and a remainder containing at least one hour adds another month; that service flows directly into the benefit formula.

The six option amounts. The estimate shows the monthly benefit under each payment option. The differences between them reflect the actuarial cost of survivor protection. Compare Option 2 (100% survivor) against Option 6-2 (100% survivor with pop-up) — the difference between those two numbers is what the pop-up feature costs you each month.

The Post-Retirement Audit

About 50% of new retirees see a benefit adjustment during the first 12 months of retirement. This happens because RSD completes a post-retirement audit using the employer's final payroll reporting. Initial payments may be followed by a recalculation when those final records are reviewed.

RSD adjusts the benefit after the audit to reconcile it with the final records. Checking your inputs before filing reduces the chance of a surprise.

Verify Before You Commit

The estimate is only as accurate as its inputs. The NC TSERS Retirement Guide includes a step-by-step process for auditing your MARS, running benefit estimates with realistic assumptions, and reconciling the numbers against your pay stubs — so you file with confidence instead of finding out after the first check.

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