TRS Georgia Retirement Estimate: How to Read Your Benefit Statement

Where to Find Your Estimate

Log into the TRS member portal (MyTRS) and generate a retirement estimate. The portal lets you run projections across different effective dates and payout options — Plan A Maximum, each Plan B option, and PLOP amounts. Your annual TRS Member Statement also contains a snapshot, but the portal gives you more flexibility to model scenarios.

The estimate is a projection, not a guarantee. Your final benefit is calculated from the Retirement Certification Report your employer submits after your last day — which is why verifying the inputs now, while corrections are possible, matters more than the bottom-line number.

Final Average Salary: The Two Highest Consecutive Years

Final Average Salary (FAS) is the average of your two highest consecutive years (24 consecutive months) of earnable compensation. TRS automatically identifies the best 24-month window from your career. For most long-career educators, this is the final two years of employment — when salary schedule steps and any supplements are at their peak.

"Earnable compensation" includes your base contract salary and certain supplements. It does not include one-time bonuses, non-contractual stipends, or overtime that falls outside your regular contract.

Members whose current TRS membership date is on or after July 1, 1984, face a salary increase cap: the maximum allowable increase between the base year and the first year of the FAS period — and between the first and second years — is capped at the percentage increase granted by the Georgia General Assembly plus 2.5%. This anti-spiking provision means a large late-career raise (such as a jump from teacher to principal) may not fully count if it exceeds the statutory ceiling.

Creditable Service: What Counts

Your estimate shows total creditable service in years and months. This includes:

• Active membership service — years of contributions to TRS
• Purchased service credit — out-of-state teaching, military service, study leave, maternity leave, or restored withdrawn TRS accounts
• Sick leave credit — certified unused sick days converted at 20 days per 1 month of service (minimum 60 days required)

Sick leave credit appears on the estimate only if your employer has already reported it. If you are running an estimate 12 months before retirement, the sick leave portion is likely missing because your employer submits that number on the Retirement Certification Report at the time of your retirement filing.

To get an accurate picture, add your expected sick leave credit to the creditable service total shown in the portal. Use the TRS-allowable rate of 1.25 days per month — not your district's accrual rate — to avoid overstating the number.

Spotting Errors in Your Estimate

Red flags to check:

• Missing years of service — if you transferred between districts, verify that all employment periods appear. Gaps suggest missing employer reporting.
• Uncredited purchased service — if you bought out-of-state or military credit, confirm it shows as paid in full. Partially paid purchases do not count.
• FAS that looks too low — if your two highest years do not match your expectations, the salary cap may have reduced an above-ceiling raise, or an employer may have underreported compensation.
• Creditable service that does not match your count — fractional years from part-time employment or mid-year starts can create small discrepancies.

If you spot a discrepancy, contact TRS for a creditable service verification before filing your application. It is far easier to correct records before retirement than after your first check is processed — at which point your elections become irreversible.

Running the Numbers Yourself

The benefit formula is: (Creditable Service × 2% × Final Average Salary) ÷ 12

A member with 30 years of service and an FAS of $68,000 would receive: (30 × 0.02 × $68,000) ÷ 12 = $3,400 per month under Plan A Maximum.

Plan B options reduce that base. PLOP reduces it further. Run each scenario in MyTRS to see the exact dollar figures based on your age and your beneficiary's age.

The Georgia TRS Retirement Guide includes a benefit estimate worksheet and a Final Average Salary verification checklist to help you reconcile the portal numbers before your filing appointment.

See more Georgia guides →