Retirement - General

Your eligibility, to retire with an annuity at ERS depends on three things.

• Your retirement group, that is, when you started working at a State of Texas agency 
• How many years and months of service credit you have 
• Your age, in years and months

Visit the Retirement Annuity and Insurance Eligibility for Regular State Agency Employees page to see how your service and age work together to make you eligible for a monthly ERS retirement annuity and health insurance in retirement. 

For additional information, sign into your ERS OnLine account to find out the date you’re first eligible to retire with ERS.

Groups 1, 2 and 3

If you’re in Group 1, 2 or 3, your standard annuity amount is calculated by multiplying your years and months of service by 2.3% (2.8% for 20 years or more of certified law enforcement/custodial officer, or LECO, service), and multiplying the product of this by your highest average salary. The calculation of highest average salary includes base pay, longevity pay, Benefit Replacement Pay (BRP) and hazardous duty pay, if applicable.

• Group 1 – Highest average salary based on highest 36 months of pay 
• Group 2 – Highest average salary based on highest 48 months of pay 
• Group 3 – Highest average salary based on highest 60 months of pay

Sign in to your ERS OnLine account to generate a personalized retirement estimate.< /p>

Group 4: 

If you’re in Group 4, your standard annuity is based on the total amount in your ERS retirement account when you retire. Your account total includes:

• your monthly contributions (currently 6% of your salary) over your career at a state agency,
• annual interest of 4% - 7%, depending on ERS’ investment performance, and 
• a 150% match of your entire account balance (your contributions plus annual interest). 

ERS adds these together and uses the total to calculate the amount of your monthly retirement annuity. 

For Group 4 members with 20 or more years of service as a certified law enforcement/custodial officer (LECO), your retirement account total will include the following, in addition to the amount based on your regular ERS retirement account:

• your monthly contributions (currently an additional 2% of your salary) to your LECO supplemental account over your career as a LECO,
• your LECO account’s annual interest of 4% - 7%, depending on ERS’ investment performance, and 
• a 300% match of your entire LECO account balance (your contributions plus annual interest). 

Currently, you must have at least 10 years of eligible service credit to get retiree health insurance through ERS.

If you began work before Sept. 1, 2001, at least three of those years must have been with a state agency that participates in the Texas Employees Group Benefits Program (GBP). If you began work on or after Sept. 1, 2001, at least 10 years of eligible service credit must be with a state agency or higher education institution that participates in the GBP.

Retiree insurance benefits will start when you retire if you:

• are age 65 or
• meet the Rule of 80 or
• meet Law Enforcement and Custodial Officer (LECO) Supplemental Retirement Fund eligibility rules.

If you retire with at least 10 years of eligible service credit, but do not meet any of the criteria above, you are eligible for optional benefits (dental insurance, vision insurance, optional life insurance and Dependent Term Life Insurance) at retirement, but will not be eligible for health insurance (including prescription drug coverage and Basic Term Life Insurance) until age 65.

Note about insurance: Health and other insurance benefits for employees and retirees are subject to change based on available state funding. The Texas Legislature determines the level of funding for such benefits and has no continuing obligation to provide those benefits beyond each fiscal year.

Groups 1, 2 and 3

If you’re in Group 1, 2 or 3, you can purchase any of the following types of service credit that applies to you to reach retirement eligibility earlier and increase the amount of your annuity.

• withdrawn/refunded service,
• military service,
• waiting period service and/or
• Additional Service Credit.

Group 4

If you’re in Group 4, you can purchase withdrawn/refunded service credit to reach eligibility sooner and increase your monthly annuity. Group 4 members have the option to certify withdrawn/refunded service credit—without purchasing it—to reach eligibility sooner, but just certifying the service credit won’t increase your monthly annuity. ERS cautions Group 4 members against just certifying withdrawn/refunded service to reach eligibility. Becoming eligible without increasing your annuity could mean an annuity that doesn’t meet your needs in retirement.

All Groups

You can request the cost for any service applicable to your account.

Learn more about purchasing service through a direct rollover.

You can use service from an employer in the Proportionate Retirement Program (PRP) to qualify for retirement. Once ERS has verified your other service, and sent you an acknowledgment, we will combine this other service with your ERS service credit at retirement to determine retirement eligibility. If you retire with PRP service credit, you will get an annuity check from each PRP system you worked at. PRP service does not count toward retiree insurance eligibility unless the PRP system you have service with also participates in the Texas Employees Group Benefits Program (GBP).

The following retirement systems participate in the PRP:

• City of Austin Police Retirement System
• City of Austin Retirement System
• El Paso City Employees' Pension Fund
• El Paso Firemen & Policemen's Pension Fund
• ERS
• Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan I
• Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan II
• Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)
  Note: If you’re in Group 1, 2 or 3, you have the option to transfer TRS service to ERS when you apply for retirement. This will increase your service credit with ERS, helping you reach eligibility for both an annuity and ERS retiree insurance. If you transfer your service from TRS to ERS, you will no longer have any TRS service and will get only one annuity (from ERS) every month.
• Texas County and District Retirement System (TCDRS)
• Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS)

If you established service with a Texas Governmental Entity (TGE), certified that service with ERS by Dec. 31, 2005, and are not yet 60 years of age, you can use up to 60 months of TGE service to meet eligibility for ERS retirement under the Rule of 80.  Please keep in mind you cannot use TGE service in conjunction with PRP service from another retirement system.

Groups 1, 2 and 3

If you’re in Group 1, 2 or 3 and retire directly from state employment, you can get service credit for both your unused sick and annual leave to increase your retirement annuity. Group 3 members can use unused leave to increase their annuity only if they don’t take it as a lump-sum payment from their agency.

If you’re in Group 1 and retire directly from state employment, you also can use unused sick and annual leave toward your retirement eligibility.

ERS figures each type of leave separately. For each type of leave, the first 160 hours equals one month of service credit. Additional fractions of 160 hours are counted as full months of service credit.

For more information visit the Unused Sick and Annual Leave page.

Group 4

There are three steps to retirement:

• First, log in to your ERS OnLine account to create your own personalized retirement estimate and review your annuity options.


• Second, call ERS to start the retirement process no more than 90 days before your expected retirement date, which is always the last day of the month. You must call ERS—you cannot do this online or by mail. After confirming your retirement options on the phone, ERS will mail or email you a Retirement Acceptance Form with the options you chose.


• Third, sign the form in front of a notary and mail it to ERS, along with any other requested documents, before your expected retirement date. You must mail the original notarized form—we cannot accept a copy or fax.

Visit the Apply for Retirement webpage for more details and documents you should have when you send the acceptance form to ERS.

No. Your retirement packet is personalized to include the retirement selections you make when you talk with an ERS retirement counselor. This is to ensure you understand your selections and how they will affect your lifetime annuity and any of your survivors or beneficiaries.

You can and should create a personalized retirement estimate online and carefully review your options before calling ERS. Log in to your ERS OnLine account to create personalized estimate.

No. It is your responsibility to notify your employer that you are retiring. You must be off payroll (including leave of absence status) by your chosen retirement date. If you are still on State of Texas payroll the month following your retirement date, ERS must cancel your retirement.

Yes. We will send a confirmation to your email address on file after we approve all your retirement documents. If you do not have an email address on file, we will mail the confirmation to your home address on file.

At the time you retire, you can take the Standard Annuity or choose one of the annuity options that ensures a beneficiary receives all or part of your ERS annuity after your death. (With some options, you can choose more than one beneficiary.) If you choose one of the - annuity options for beneficiary payments, it’s important to understand that:

• your monthly annuity amount will be reduced permanently and
• once you’ve chosen the option and your retirement is processed, you cannot change it.

Learn more about the beneficiary payment options.

If you choose the Standard Annuity and there’s any money left in your State of Texas Retirement account when you die, the remaining money will go to the beneficiary you choose.

ERS will pay it the last business day of the month following your retirement date.

Groups 1, 2 and 3

Unless they choose the Self-funded Increase Option (see below), retirees in Groups 1, 2 and 3 should not expect annuity increases after they retire. The retirement benefit for these groups was not set up to provide regular annuity increases. By law, ERS cannot give a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) or additional retirement payment (sometimes called a “13th check”) to these groups unless the retirement plan is actuarially sound and would remain actuarially sound after the increase. For a number of reasons, the plan wasn’t actuarially sound for most of the 2000s and 2010s, although it is currently back on the path toward soundness. Even with the plan improving financially, ERS does not guarantee regular increases for retirees in Groups 1, 2 and 3. 

Members of Groups 1, 2 and 3 who retire after Aug. 31, 2024, have the option to fund their own annual increase through the Self-Funded Increase Option. This option will reduce their initial retirement payment, but will provide a 2% increase every year. 

Retirees in Group 4 have a different type of retirement benefit that is structured to provide increases through a process called gain-sharing. In years when ERS’ investments perform at a certain level, Group 4 retirees’ annuities will increase by up to 3%. (The exact amount of a gain-sharing increase depends on how well the investments performed.) ERS does not guarantee regular annuity increases for Group 4 retirees, but they will occur when investment returns allow. Once a Group 4 retiree receives an increase, their annuity will never be reduced.

All Groups

Because the ERS retirement plan does not guarantee regular increases and because the average annuity for ERS retirees equals only about half their working salary, we strongly encourage employees to contribute to a Texa$aver 401(k) or 457 account or other personal retirement savings. Learn more about the importance of having three sources of income in retirement. 

Unless you participate through COBRA, your TexFlex health care or limited-purpose flexible spending account will be closed on your retirement date. You will only be able to submit claims for expenses you incurred before your retirement date. 

If you have a TexFlex debit card, the card is deactivated on the last day of the month in which your employment ends.

Once you leave employment, you can no longer contribute directly to your Texa$aver 401(k) or 457 account. However, you can keep your account and, depending on your age, begin withdrawing money from it, including on a regular distribution schedule.

To take advantage of Texa$aver’s lower-than-average fees, you can roll another employer's 401(k), 401(a), 403(b) or eligible governmental 457 account into your Texa$aver 401(k) and/or 457 account. (You can do a rollover before you retire.)

 Contact Texa$aver toll-free at (800) 634-5091 for more information.

Yes. As your employers, the State of Texas and your agency contribute a combined 10% of your salary to the ERS Retirement Trust Fund. For certified law enforcement and custodial officers, the state contributes another 1.75% of their salary to the LECO Supplemental Retirement Fund.  Investment professionals at ERS invest the Retirement Trust Fund so it grows over the course of your career. When you are eligible and decide to retire, the employers’ contributions and ERS’ investment earnings help fund multiplier for Groups 1, 2 and 3 and the match for Group 4. (See the answer to question 2 for more information on the multiplier and match.)

Your contributions, your employers’ contributions and ERS’ investment earnings work together over your career to ensure you have a lifetime annuity as a stable source of income in retirement.