Built for Teachers,
Not Accountants

Why This Exists

Teachers have pension formulas tied to years of service and final average salary. They have 403(b)s and 457(b)s as supplements. Nine states have no state income tax at all. Every state has different pension contribution rates, vesting periods, and benefit multipliers. Generic calculators capture none of this.

We built state-specific tools that pre-load your pension system’s actual contribution rates, average teacher salaries, and current IRS limits — so you can model reality, not a hypothetical.

Every state’s calculator is tuned to its specific Teacher Retirement System (TRS), State Teachers Retirement System (STRS), or equivalent. When you visit the Texas calculator, it knows about TRS of Texas contribution rates. When you visit California, it knows about CalSTRS. This specificity matters.

What the Calculators Do

For each of the 50 states, the calculator models compound growth of a supplemental 403(b) or 457(b) retirement account. These are the voluntary contribution accounts that sit alongside your defined-benefit pension.

What You Can Adjust

• Initial investment — your current 403(b) or supplemental account balance
• Monthly contribution — how much you add each month (we suggest starting at 3% of salary)
• Annual return rate — historical S&P 500 average is ~10% nominal, ~7% inflation-adjusted
• Time horizon — years until retirement (1–60)
• Compounding frequency — monthly is standard for most 403(b) plans
• Annual step-up — percentage increase in contributions each year (mirrors salary growth)
• Inflation rate — default 3%, adjustable for conservative or optimistic scenarios
• State tax rate — pre-loaded from your state’s current income tax schedule

What This Is Not

This is not a pension benefit calculator. Your defined-benefit pension is calculated by your state pension system using your exact service years, salary history, tier, and retirement age — factors we don’t have access to and cannot model reliably.

For your pension estimate, contact your state’s retirement system directly. Most state pension systems provide online benefit estimators that take your actual employment record into account.

This tool models the supplemental savings component of teacher retirement — the voluntary 403(b) and 457(b) accounts that most financial planners recommend funding alongside your pension.

Data Sources

Pension system data (contribution rates, benefit formulas, vesting periods, social security coverage) is sourced from each state’s official Teacher Retirement System website and the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) Teacher Pension database. Salary data comes from the National Education Association (NEA) Educator Pay Data report.

State income tax rates are sourced from the Tax Foundation and each state’s Department of Revenue. Tax treatment of pension income varies significantly by state — some states exempt all pension income, some tax it fully, and some have partial exemptions. We note these distinctions where relevant.

Update Schedule

We review and update pension contribution rates annually (typically in September when states release new fiscal year data) and update tax rates when state legislatures make changes. Federal 403(b)/IRA contribution limits are refreshed each year when the IRS publishes its COLA notice. The last full data review was completed in June 2026, using the IRS 2026 limits.