Methodology and data sources

How we handle data

• Primary sources first. Figures come from the plan’s own handbook, summary plan description, board materials or the governing statute, not from third-party summaries.
• Gaps are labelled, not filled. Where a plan does not publish a figure we need, the page says so and the calculator’s output flags the affected number as an approximation.
• Everything is dated. Each page carries the date its data was last checked, because these rules change and a stale figure that looks confident is worse than no figure.
• Conflicts are disclosed. Where a plan’s own documents contradict each other — and several do right now — we say which one we followed and why.

Federal constants for 2026

These drive the Social Security, 403(b)/401(k) and Roth calculators. All come from IRS Notice 2025-67 and SSA publications.

Pension formulas

Each of the eight system pages carries its own Sources section with the specific documents used. In summary:

The Social Security model

The Social Security calculator builds an AIME from the earnings history you supply, applies the 2026 PIA formula (90% of the first $1,286, 32% from $1,286 to $7,749, 15% above that), then adjusts for claiming age: a reduction of 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months before full retirement age and 5/12 of 1% per month beyond that, or delayed retirement credits of 8% a year up to age 70.

Two simplifications are worth knowing. The model does not index your past earnings to the national average wage index as SSA does, so if you enter historical nominal salaries the result will understate your benefit. And it assumes a full 35-year earnings record unless you tell it otherwise. Treat the output as a rough shape rather than a figure to plan on, and get a real statement from my Social Security.

Known approximations

Several systems do not publish the reduction factors we would need to be exact. In each case the calculator labels the affected figure in its own output notes:

What we could not verify

Two substantive facts resisted confirmation from a primary source. Both are flagged on the pages where they matter rather than quietly resolved.

Do NYSTRS members participate in Social Security?

NYSTRS does not state this anywhere on its own website that we could find, including the Active Members’ Handbook, the member FAQs and the employer manual. Indirect evidence points to yes: NYSTRS retiree publications tell members to include Social Security when tallying retirement assets, and NASRA, citing GAO data, reports that 99% of New York state and local government employees participate. That statistic is not NYSTRS-specific. We have not asserted an answer.

Is the STRS Ohio 35-year enhanced multiplier still operative?

Ohio Revised Code 3307.58 still carries an enhanced schedule for members with 35 or more years — 2.5% for the first 30 years, rising to 3.3% for later years. STRS Ohio’s own 2026 member presentation shows a flat 2.2% with no enhanced tier. We could not resolve the conflict because strsoh.org was unreachable during the review, so the site uses the flat 2.2% and tells members with 35+ years to ask STRS directly.

Official documents that are currently out of date

This came up repeatedly and is worth recording, because a reader may be told something incorrect by the plan’s own website:

• NYSTRS Active Members’ Handbook still says Tier 6 has no 30-year exception and that vested members cannot retire until 63. Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026 created an unreduced path at age 58 with 30 years, effective April 1, 2026.
• The NYSTRS Tier 6 PDF still shows a five-year final average salary and the old four-year spike cap, both superseded in April 2024.
• PSERS’s Class Election Presentation still shows Class T-G at 6.25% and T-H at 5.25%. A shared-gain adjustment cut those to 5.50% and 4.50% on July 1, 2024.
• The STRS Ohio comparison chart hosted by Ohio State still says 34 years for unreduced retirement. It is 32 through May 1, 2035.
• The Massachusetts State Retirement Board COLA page had not been updated past the July 1, 2025 adjustment at the time of review, though the FY2027 COLA was approved.

Review schedule

Federal constants change every autumn when the IRS and SSA publish the following year’s figures, so those are reviewed each November and January. State pension rules change on no fixed schedule — legislative sessions, board votes and budget bills all move them — so those are reviewed periodically and whenever a reader reports a discrepancy.

If you find something out of date, send it in with a source link. That is the fastest route to a correction.