The Teachers Retirement System of Georgia covers teachers and other staff in the state’s public schools, many employees of the University System of Georgia and Technical College System, and some other education workers. It pays one of the simpler pensions in the country: one multiplier, one salary average and two ways to retire with no reduction.
The formula
Your monthly pension is 2% × your years of creditable service × your average monthly salary for your two highest consecutive years. Service counts up to 40 years, so the most you can earn is 80% of that average.
A teacher with 30 years and a two-year average of $72,000 a year ($6,000 a month) gets 60% of $6,000, which is $3,600 a month. That is the Maximum Plan, also called Plan A, which pays the most but stops at your death. Survivor options pay less each month so a beneficiary keeps receiving a benefit.
The salary average uses the 24 highest consecutive months of membership service, which do not have to be your last two years. Georgia law limits how much salary increases near the end of a career can count, so a large late raise may not be fully used. Nine or more months of service in a fiscal year count as a full year.
When the benefit is unreduced
You can retire with no reduction when you reach either of these:
| Path | Service | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Career | 30 years | Any age |
| Age-based | 10 years | 60 or older |
Because there is no minimum age with 30 years, a teacher who started at 22 can retire at 52 with a full benefit. Someone who started teaching later in life can retire at 60 once they have 10 years.
Early retirement at 25 years
With at least 25 years of service you can retire before 60 even if you are short of 30 years, but the benefit is cut for life. TRS works out two reductions and uses the smaller one:
- 7% for each year you are under age 60, counted by month, or
- 7% for each year, or part of a year, you are short of 30 years of service.
| Age and service | Reduction | Share of salary |
|---|---|---|
| 57 with 27 years | 21% | 42.7% instead of 54% |
| 55 with 28 years | 14% | 48.2% instead of 56% |
| 58 with 25 years | 14% | 43.0% instead of 50% |
| 52 with 29 years | 7% | 53.9% instead of 58% |
Georgia law also lets members buy up to 3 years of service at full actuarial cost, often called “air time”. Buying enough to reach 30 years can remove the reduction entirely, so it is worth pricing before you choose an early date. Our service credit calculator shows how long a purchase takes to pay for itself.
Vesting and leaving early
You are vested after 10 years of service. A vested member who leaves Georgia teaching can leave their contributions with TRS and start a pension at 60. Withdrawing your contributions ends any right to a future pension, so compare the two before you request a refund. Our guide to leaving teaching early walks through the choice.
COLA
TRS checks the Consumer Price Index every six months. As long as prices are not lower than when you retired, your benefit rises 1.5% on January 1 and again on July 1, about 3% a year. The first raise comes at the second January or July after you retire: if you retire between July and December, your first increase is the next July. This steady raise is one of the most valuable features of the plan. Details and recent increases are on the Georgia TRS COLA page.
Social Security
Georgia is one of the states where it depends on your district. Most Georgia school systems pay into Social Security, so most teachers earn both a TRS pension and Social Security. A number of systems chose not to, and teachers there earn only TRS for their teaching years. Your pay stub shows which applies: look for a 6.2% OASDI or Social Security deduction.
Since the Social Security Fairness Act, Social Security from other jobs or from a spouse is no longer cut by the old WEP and GPO rules, so teachers in non-covered districts now keep any Social Security they earned elsewhere. The pension and Social Security calculator adds the two together.
Taxes
Georgia excludes up to $35,000 of retirement income per person from 62 to 64, and $65,000 from age 65, and does not tax Social Security. Many Georgia retirees pay little or no state income tax on a TRS pension. See Georgia retirement taxes or compare states with the retirement tax calculator.
How well funded is Georgia TRS?
At the end of fiscal 2024, Georgia TRS had assets to cover 78% of the benefits members have earned so far. That is close to the middle of the pack for large state plans. It has stayed close to that level since 2015.
In fiscal 2025, employers paid the full contribution the plan's actuaries asked for. A low funded ratio does not cut a pension you have already earned. Public pension benefits are protected by state law, and in many states by the state constitution. What a gap usually changes is the future: higher contributions from workers and employers, and less generous tiers for new hires.