How to Calculate North Carolina State Retirement
One in eight working North Carolinians is a member of the NC Retirement Systems, according to the North Carolina Department of the State Treasurer. The retirement system covers not only state employees but also teachers, local government employees and law enforcement officers - about 820,000 workers employed by 1,200 public-sector agencies, as of 2010. These members of the North Carolina Retirement System make pre-tax contributions to their retirement accounts, in addition to contributions that the state makes in their names. When planning for retirement, workers can figure out how much they will receive from this fixed-benefit plan.
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Instructions
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Go to the North Carolina state retirement estimator (See References). This online tool is offered by the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer for workers to determine what their monthly retirement check will be. Note that this website is only an estimator. Your actual monthly retirement can vary somewhat.
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Select your retirement plan. North Carolina has four different retirement plans that cover public-sector employees based on their position: Teachers and State Employees, State Law Enforcement Officers, Local Government Employees and Local Law Enforcement Officers. Select the type of job you hold, and hit the "Continue" button.
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Enter your personal information. The estimator needs the member's birth date, beneficiary's birth date, retirement date, service creditable for retirement, accumulated sick time, estimated Social Security benefit at age 62 and your average final compensation. Your final compensation is taken from the average of your four highest-paid, consecutive years. The other information can be found from a number of sources, including your retirement account information page (See References), your pay stub, your retirement account statement and an annual statement that the Social Security Administration mails to you around your birthday. Once you've entered the information, hit the "Calculate Benefits" button.
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View an estimate of your benefits. The results will show what your maximum monthly benefit will be, as well as the benefits you might get with some of the options available under your retirement plan. You will also see information on the survivor benefits that your beneficiary will receive if you die. While your actual benefit might vary somewhat depending on your particular situation, this estimator will give you a very close estimate of your benefits as you near retirement.
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Tips & Warnings
Change your retirement date to see what difference holding off your retirement for a year or two might make to your monthly income.
To know what is actually in your state retirement account, log on to ORBIT (Online Retirement Benefits Through Integrated Technology) website, and click "View Your Benefit Estimate."
The numbers don't have to be exact. Remember this is just an estimator. All numbers and dates are certified at the time of your retirement and, until then, can change.
References
- Photo Credit North Carolina state contour against blurred USA flag image by Stasys Eidiejus from Fotolia.com
