Independent, source-linked pension research
Rules reviewed August 2026
California teacher retirement system
The 2% at 60 and 2% at 62 structures, age factors, final compensation, sick leave credit and refunds.
Complete topic cluster
01Benefit structure
CalSTRS 2% at 60 (pre-2013 members) vs 2% at 62 / PEPRA: eligibility ages, age factors, the final compensation period, and the career factor.
02Benefit formula
The CalSTRS pension is service credit x age factor x final compensation. What each input means, how the age factor grows, and a worked example for a California teacher.
03Service credit
How unused sick leave is converted, what it can increase, and why it cannot establish retirement eligibility.
04Leaving employment
Compare leaving contributions on deposit with requesting a refund and understand what membership rights are forfeited.
05Disability
A practical comparison of CalSTRS Coverage A and Coverage B disability benefits, including age rules, service requirements, duration, and filing steps.
06Divorce
How divorce can affect CalSTRS Defined Benefit and related accounts, including time-rule and segregation methods and court-order review.
07Survivor options
How CalSTRS Member-Only and beneficiary options differ, how option factors reduce the member benefit, and when beneficiary changes are limited.
08Inflation protection
How the CalSTRS Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account works with the annual 2% adjustment, the 85% purchasing-power level, and quarterly payments.
09Applying
How the CalSTRS service retirement application timeline works in 2026, including filing windows, retirement dates, first payment and changes.
010After retirement
How the CalSTRS 180-day separation-from-service rule works in 2026, which work counts, the narrow exemption and how earnings reduce benefits.
011After retirement
How the CalSTRS 2026–27 postretirement earnings limit works, what counts as retired-member activity and how excess earnings reduce benefits.
012Benefit structure
How the CalSTRS Defined Benefit Supplement account is funded, credited with interest and paid at retirement, disability or termination.
013Service credit
Which past service and approved leaves may qualify for CalSTRS permissive service credit, how 2026–27 rates work, and when payment must finish.
014Service credit
How a CalSTRS redeposit restores refunded Defined Benefit service credit, how interest raises the cost, and what changes after returning to membership.
015Benefit structure
For members already in CalSTRS 2% at 62, how PEPRA affects the 2026–27 compensation cap, member contributions, age factors and final compensation.
016Final compensation
When CalSTRS can use 12 months instead of 36 months for final compensation, the 25-year rule, exclusions and why 2% at 62 is different.
017Social Security
How the 2025 Social Security Fairness Act changed WEP and GPO for CalSTRS members, what stayed the same, and which SSA records to verify.
018Benefit formula
The CalSTRS age factor explained in plain terms: the 2% at 60 table, the 2% at 62 table, where each one starts and maxes out, and how the career factor adds 0.2% for a 30-year teacher.
019Membership tier
If your first CalSTRS position was on or after January 1, 2013 you are in the 2% at 62 structure. Here is how it differs from 2% at 60: later age factors, a compensation cap, higher member contributions, and no career factor.
020System basics
If you teach in a California public school, your pension is CalSTRS. CalPERS covers other state and local public employees — a different system, different rules, and a different member portal. Here's how to tell which one is yours.
021Eligibility
CalSTRS eligibility depends entirely on which benefit structure you're in. Members hired through 2012 get an age-50 option with 30 years of service; PEPRA members hired from 2013 onward do not. Here's exactly what each structure requires.
022Vesting
Five years of CalSTRS service credit vests you for a future monthly benefit under either structure. Here's what vesting means in practice, and your real options if you leave teaching before you reach it.
023COLA
CalSTRS's annual benefit adjustment is a flat 2% of your original benefit, not compounded and not tied to inflation. A separate purchasing-power program is the real backstop if inflation outpaces that fixed rate.
024Social Security
Most CalSTRS-covered teaching work doesn't pay into Social Security, which historically triggered benefit-reducing rules for members with outside Social Security eligibility. Those rules were repealed for benefits payable after December 2023.
025Working after retirement
CalSTRS retirees who return to CalSTRS-covered work face an annual earnings limit that's dropping for 2026-27, plus a separate 180-day restriction right after retirement. Here's the current numbers and how they interact.
026Benefit formula
CalSTRS calculates your pension from three inputs: age factor, years of service credit, and final compensation. Here's the actual age factor table for both benefit structures and a fully worked example.
027Taxes
Unlike some peer states, California doesn't exempt pension income — here's how CalSTRS benefits are actually taxed federally and by the state, and how to manage withholding on both.