How to Calculate Your CalPERS Pension Benefit
When you get your annual statement from CalPERS, it tells you how much your pension is worth if you cashed it out. Unlike your annual Social Security earnings statements, it doesn't tell you how much you'll get every month. You have to do that yourself. However, if you use the information in your CalPERS pension statement, you can figure out your monthly benefit yourself.
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Instructions
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Get a copy of your last CalPERS statement. If you don't have one, you can sign up to see it online at http://www.calpers.ca.gov.
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Calculate the number of service credits (years of service) you'll have when you retire.
The CalPERS earnings statement will tell you how many service credits you have since June 30th of this year or last year. That date is chosen because it's the end of fiscal year for the state of California.
Then you need to add the number of years you'll work past that date. For example, if you have 25 years of service as of June 30th and plan to work one more year past that date, you will add 1 more year of credit to total 26 years worth of service credits.
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Get the CalPERS pension formula you're enrolled in at your employer. Your annual CalPERS statement should have this information, but you can ask your HR department as well.
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Figure out your age on the day you retire. Remember, you must be at least age 50 to draw benefits.
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Get the chart for your CalPERS pension formula from the CalPERS website or your HR department. For example, if your plan is 2.5% at age 55, you need the 2.5@55 chart.
The chart will have number of years of service on one axis and your age at retirement on the other axis.
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Use the CalPERS pension formula chart to figure out what percentage of your current monthly income you will earn in retirement based upon the amount of service credit and your age. For example, if your monthly income is $3,000 and the chart says you'll earn 70% of it, then your monthly benefit will be $2,100 at the very most.
Many other factors will change this number, mostly lower. Some of those factors include determining how much your spouse or survivor will make off your pension after you die or if you decide to take a temporary annuity to increase your benefits in the beginning years.
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Tips & Warnings
The calculation here is a very rough estimate. There are retirement calculators on CalPERS website which are more accurate, but the most accurate estimates will come from CalPERS itself when you retire. Many things such as contributions to Social Security will influence your estimate.
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