Teacher retirement in Texas works through the Teacher Retirement System (TRS), a defined benefit pension: you and your employer contribute a set percentage of your salary during your career, and once you’re vested and meet the age and service requirements, TRS pays you a monthly check for life based on a formula written into state law, not on investment returns. Because roughly 96 percent of Texas public school employees don’t pay into Social Security through their school jobs, that TRS pension is the primary retirement income for most Texas educators.
Who Is Automatically a TRS Member
If you work at least 20 hours per week in a TRS-covered position — teacher, administrator, librarian, bus driver, cafeteria worker at a public school, charter school, regional education service center, or public university — you become a TRS member on your first day of eligible employment.1Teacher Retirement System of Texas. New Hire Membership is not optional. Contributions start coming out of your paycheck immediately and continue for as long as you hold a covered position.
What You Pay In
Three sources fund your pension: you, the State of Texas, and your employer. As a member, 8.25 percent of your gross monthly salary is deducted pre-tax and sent to TRS.2Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Member Contributions The state matches at 8.25 percent, and public education employers add 2 percent (up from 1.9 percent effective September 2024).3Teacher Retirement System of Texas. FY 2025 Contribution Rates Because your share is pre-tax, it lowers your current taxable income; you pay income tax on the money later, when it comes back to you as retirement payments. The Texas Legislature sets these rates, and they can change.
Vesting: Five Years of Service Credit
You become vested after earning five years of membership service credit, which locks in your right to a lifetime monthly pension once you meet the age requirements.4Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Five Years Membership Service Credit Even if you leave public education after vesting, your future pension stays on the books as long as you don’t withdraw your contributions.
To earn one full year of service credit, you need at least 90 paid days during the TRS plan year, which runs September 1 through August 31. You can also add credit by purchasing time for qualifying military service or out-of-state teaching. Purchasing credit means paying the actuarial cost TRS calculates based on your salary history and the added benefit value. Buying credit can move up your retirement eligibility or raise the formula result.
When You Can Retire
When you qualify for full, unreduced benefits depends on when you first joined TRS and how much service you’d accumulated by August 31, 2014. Three membership groups drive eligibility.5Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Retirement Eligibility Requirements
Group 1
You’re in Group 1 if you joined before September 1, 2007 and had at least five years of service by August 31, 2014. You qualify for a full pension at 65 with five years of service, or at any age when your age plus service totals 80 (the Rule of 80). A 55-year-old with 25 years of service qualifies.
Group 2
You’re in Group 2 if you joined on or after September 1, 2007 but before September 1, 2014, with at least five years by August 31, 2014. Full retirement at 65 with five years, or at 60 or older with five years and a total of 80. The difference from Group 1 is the age-60 floor: your numbers may add to 80 sooner, but you wait until you turn 60.
Group 3
You’re in Group 3 if you joined on or after September 1, 2014, or had fewer than five years by August 31, 2014. Full retirement at 65 with five years, or at 62 or older with five years and a total of 80. This is the strictest group.
Early Retirement
You can retire early with reduced benefits if you have at least 30 years of service but don’t yet meet the Rule of 80. TRS reduces your annuity by 5 percent for each year you’re under the minimum age for your group — 60 for Groups 1 and 2, 62 for Group 3.5Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Retirement Eligibility Requirements A Group 3 member retiring at 58 with 30 years takes a 20 percent cut (four years × 5 percent).
How Your Monthly Pension Is Calculated
The standard monthly annuity formula is:
Years of Service Credit × 2.3% × Average of Highest Annual Salaries ÷ 12
The 2.3 percent multiplier applies across all six TRS tiers. What varies is the salary average: members in Tiers 1, 4, and 6 use the average of their three highest annual salaries; members in Tiers 2, 3, and 5 use the average of their five highest.6Teacher Retirement System of Texas. TRS Benefit Tier Guide
A Tier 1 member with 30 years of service and a $60,000 average across the three highest salary years receives 30 × 2.3% = 69% of $60,000, or $41,400 a year — about $3,450 a month before taxes.7Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Understand Your Benefits
Choosing How the Annuity Is Paid
At retirement you pick one of six payment structures. The choice affects both your monthly amount and what your beneficiary receives after you die.8Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Annuity Payment Options
- Standard Annuity: highest monthly payment, paid for your lifetime only. Payments stop at your death.
- Option 1 (100% Joint and Survivor): reduced monthly payment for life; your beneficiary receives the same amount for their lifetime after you die.
- Option 2 (50% Joint and Survivor): reduced monthly payment; beneficiary gets half of that amount for life.
- Option 3 (60-Month Guarantee): reduced monthly payment for life; if you die within 60 months of retirement, beneficiary collects the remaining payments through month 60.
- Option 4 (120-Month Guarantee): same idea, extended to 120 months.
- Option 5 (75% Joint and Survivor): reduced monthly payment; beneficiary gets 75 percent of that amount for life.
If you pick Option 1, 2, or 5 and your beneficiary dies before you do, your payment automatically bumps up to the standard annuity amount. Options 1, 2, and 5 allow only a single primary beneficiary, and age-gap limits apply when the beneficiary isn’t your spouse: you can’t choose Option 1 if a non-spouse beneficiary is more than 10 years younger, or Option 5 if they’re more than 19 years younger.
Partial Lump Sum at Retirement
If you qualify for unreduced retirement, you may be able to take a one-time lump sum equal to 12, 24, or 36 months of your standard annuity, in exchange for a permanently lower ongoing monthly payment.9Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Partial Lump Sum Option (PLSO) Tiers 1, 4, and 6 need only unreduced service retirement eligibility; Tiers 2, 3, and 5 also need age plus service credit totaling at least 90. Disability retirees can’t use this option. The 24-month lump sum can be split into one or two annual payments, and the 36-month version can be spread across up to three.
Retiree Health Insurance
TRS-Care is a separate program with its own eligibility rules. You need at least 10 years of service credit and must either have age plus service totaling 80 or have 30 or more years of service.10Teacher Retirement System of Texas. TRS-Care Eligibility and Enrollment Service credit combined from other retirement systems under the Proportionate Retirement Program doesn’t count toward these thresholds. Starting January 1, 2026, all TRS-Care participants who are Medicare-eligible must enroll in and pay for Medicare Part B to stay in a TRS-Care plan.
2026 monthly premiums for TRS-Care Standard (no Medicare) run $200 retiree-only, $408 retiree + children, $689 retiree + spouse, and $999 retiree + family. TRS-Care Medicare Advantage runs $75, $280, $408, and $613 for the same tiers.11Teacher Retirement System of Texas. 2026 TRS-Care Plan Highlights Premiums drop by $200 for tiers that include a disabled child, regardless of the child’s age.
Social Security and Your TRS Pension
Most Texas public school employees don’t pay Social Security taxes through their school jobs, so a common question is whether Social Security benefits earned from other work get reduced by TRS. For years, two federal rules — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — cut or eliminated Social Security benefits for people who also received a pension from non-covered employment like TRS.
On January 5, 2025, President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82) into law, repealing both provisions. The repeal applies to benefits payable from January 2024 forward. The Social Security Administration began adjusting monthly payments in early 2025 and issued one-time retroactive payments covering the increase back to January 2024.12Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act – Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset If you earned Social Security through other jobs, you now receive your full calculated benefit without a TRS-related reduction.
If You Leave Before Retirement
Leaving Texas public education before retirement, you can request a refund of your own accumulated contributions by filing Form TRS 6. Only your contributions come back; the state and employer portions stay with TRS. A refund terminates your membership and wipes out all service credit, so you give up any future pension unless you return later and reinstate the credit.13Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Requesting a Refund
Refunds carry tax consequences. TRS withholds 20 percent for federal income tax unless you roll the full amount into a traditional IRA or another qualified plan. If you’re under 59½, the IRS may also charge a 10 percent early distribution penalty on any amount not rolled over. TRS generally issues refund payments within 60 to 90 days after receiving all required documents.
Disability and Death Benefits
If you become mentally or physically unable to perform your job duties and the condition is likely permanent, you may qualify for disability retirement. The TRS Medical Board certifies disability based on your medical records, diagnostic tests, and your physician’s documentation.14Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Disability Retirement With at least 10 years of service credit, you receive a monthly annuity under the standard formula with no early-age reduction. With fewer than 10 years, TRS pays a $150 monthly disability benefit for the lesser of the number of months you were a member, the duration of your disability, or your lifetime.
If you die while still working in a covered position, your beneficiary may receive a lump sum equal to twice your annual salary, capped at $80,000.15Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Death If you die after retirement, your designated beneficiary receives a $10,000 lump sum survivor payment on top of any ongoing monthly payments owed under the annuity option you chose. Picking one of the joint and survivor or guaranteed-period options is the main way to keep monthly income flowing to a spouse or other beneficiary after your death.
Working After You Retire
Many retirees go back to work in Texas public schools, and TRS allows it, but the rules are strict. Every retiree must observe at least one full calendar month with no TRS-covered employment after the effective retirement date. Working for any TRS-covered employer during that first month revokes your retirement entirely.16Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Employment After Retirement – How It Works for You If you retired after January 1, 2021, you must wait 12 consecutive calendar months before working full-time for a TRS-covered employer without risking your annuity.
After the required break, a retiree working half-time or less can work up to 92 hours per calendar month. A retiree combining substitute teaching with other TRS-covered work can work up to 11 days per calendar month, and any portion of a day counts as a full day.17Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Employment After Retirement (EAR) Limits Going over these limits can forfeit some or all of your annuity payments for the affected period.
Applying for Retirement
TRS recommends starting the retirement process 10 to 12 months before your planned retirement date.18Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Steps to Retirement Timeline
Request a Benefit Estimate
Log into the MyTRS portal and submit a request under the Planning Tools tab. TRS mails you a retirement packet with projected benefit amounts and the forms you need. A paper request is also available on Form TRS 18, though the online route is faster.19Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Requesting a Retirement Benefit Estimate TRS allows one estimate request per benefit type per fiscal year.
File Form TRS 30
About six months out, submit Form TRS 30, the Application for Service Retirement. On the form you choose your annuity payment option, designate your beneficiary, set federal tax withholding, and provide direct deposit details. You can upload through MyTRS, fax to 512-542-6597, or mail to TRS at 4655 Mueller Blvd., Austin, Texas 78723.20Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Instructions for Service Retirement TRS 31
Watch the 12-Month Deadline
After filing, you have 12 months from your effective retirement date to submit all remaining required documents. Miss it and the application becomes void; you start over, and no annuity payments are issued for the months that pass between the voided application and a new one.21Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Retirement Deadlines
First Payment
Once TRS processes your application and reconciles your final salary with your employer, your first annuity payment arrives on the last working day of the month following the first full calendar month after your retirement date. Retire May 31, and the first payment lands on the last working day in June.20Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Instructions for Service Retirement TRS 31