Educate Yourself

Determining Your Retirement Benefit

SALARY LIMITATION

When calculating retirement benefits, Georgia law and IRS code place certain limitations on salary earned and salary increases received.

Salary Earned Limitations

Effective July 1, 2010, for TRS members whose current date of membership is on or after July 1, 1996, the maximum earnable compensation for which TRS contributions can be reported or which will be used to calculate retirement benefits remains unchanged at $245,000.

The IRS limits are based on plan year, not a calendar year. The TRS plan year begins July 1st and ends June 30th. The plan year for the Board of Regents ORP begins January 1st of each year.

Salary Increase Limitations

In its annual meeting held June 2, 2010, the Board of Trustees adopted the following maximum salary increases for 2010-2011 that can be used by the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia (TRS) to compute a member's highest two-year average salary:

These percentages are in accordance with Georgia law [O.C.G.A. § 47-3-120(d)] and apply only to TRS members whose current date of membership is on or after July 1, 1984. The specific limitation is determined each year by the General Assembly's appropriation for salary increases for the ensuing year. Prospective retirees with questions regarding their accounts can contact TRS at 404-352-6500, or 800-352-0650.

After determining a member's consecutive twenty-four months which produce the highest average salary, which also represents at least two years of service credit, a base year is determined for the average salary limitation against which the first of the two highest years is compared. The resulting allowable salary for the first of the highest two years is then compared to the second of the highest two years.

Note: The salary increase percentages listed above are only for the current year. The limitations for earlier years can be obtained by contacting TRS.