1 The month you were appointed

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Your appointment date sets your tier, and your tier sets the whole pension formula. Tier 2 is anyone appointed before July 1, 2009. Tier 3 Original runs July 1, 2009 to March 31, 2012. Tier 3 Revised runs April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2017. Tier 3 Enhanced is April 1, 2017 or later, or anyone who opted in while that was open. If you’re Tier 2, the date also sets how your salary is averaged. Appointed before July 1, 2000 works one way. On or after that date works another.

Where to find it

Your own memory. The Fund’s record is the one that counts, so if you’re not sure, ask the Fund to confirm your tier and your appointment date. Some service credit can change the date the Fund uses. For example, the Tier 3 booklet says Retroactive Military Seniority brings tier status with it.

Why it matters

Everything else on the calculator is worked out from your tier’s formula. With the wrong tier, the figure isn’t just rough. It’s wrong.

If you don’t know

Open ‘I do not have the date to hand’ and pick a tier for now. You’ll get a worked example rather than your own figure, and the Pension Printout won’t print until you add the date.

Source: Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.4 (plan table) and p.6 (Retroactive Military Seniority includes tier status); Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.3 and p.16

2 Years of Service

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This is your credited service, and it isn’t always the same as the years since you came on. Purchased time, military time and breaks can all change it. Both tiers need 20 years for a service retirement. Tier 2 counts what the Fund calls Allowable Police Service. Tier 3 counts uniformed service. The calculator asks for your years now. The questionnaire asks for your years on the day you leave.

Where to find it

Your own memory. The Fund’s record settles it. The Read your Fund statement page has you check which 20th-anniversary date the Fund counts from, because your own memory of your start date may not match their record.

Why it matters

Tier 2 pays 50% of your final average salary at 20 years. On top of that it adds 1/60 of your total earnings after your 20th anniversary. Tier 3 pays a flat 50% of final average salary at 20 years, less half your primary Social Security benefit from age 62. More years don’t raise that percentage. Twenty-five years does two things in Tier 3: it sets your full escalation date (escalation is Tier 3’s yearly inflation adjustment), and it ends required contributions. In both tiers, the yearly VSF payment needs a service retirement with at least 20 years.

If you don’t know

Your best honest number is better than an empty box. The Fund confirms the real one.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.3 (20 years Allowable Police Service), p.19 (service formula); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.16 (20 years), p.7 (contributions not required after 25), p.18 (full escalation date), p.20 (VSF)

3 Your Age Now

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Your age isn’t part of the basic service-pension formula, so the same service and salary give the same starting figure whether you leave at 45 or 55. Age does matter elsewhere: a Tier 3 pension is cut at 62 by the Social Security offset, and the Fund uses your age to price any Tier 2 shortage and any survivor option. What your age does is turn ages into real calendar years.

Where to find it

Your own memory.

Why it matters

Several rules depend on age. At 62, a Tier 3 service or vested pension is reduced by half of your primary Social Security benefit, whether or not you’ve started collecting Social Security. Tier 3 members also have to leave uniformed service at 62. Tier 2 pension loans have to be repaid before your 63rd birthday.

If you don’t know

This one doesn’t need looking up. Just know that if you leave it blank on Your Full Retirement Plan, that page works out the figures as if you were 45.

Source: Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.15 (offset at 62; mandatory separation at 62); Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.10 (loan repayment before 63rd birthday)

4 Age you plan to retire

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Your last day on duty and your retirement date aren’t the same day. After your last day on active duty you can use up your accrued time and terminal leave, and you stay on the active payroll while you do.

Where to find it

This is your own decision.

Why it matters

For Tier 2 members appointed on or after July 1, 2000, your salary average is your pay in the final 12 months, so the date you pick changes which pay counts. For earlier Tier 2 members and for Tier 3, the Fund uses whichever qualifying period gives the highest average, which can be your three best consecutive calendar years rather than only the months just before you leave. On filing: the Tier 2 booklet says to file in person at least 10 days before terminal leave starts and at least 30 days before your retirement date. The Tier 3 booklet says in person at least 10 days before terminal leave starts. Both booklets say to call Retirement Processing for an appointment three to four weeks before you file.

If you don’t know

A rough age is fine for the calculator. The questionnaire asks this twice, once as ‘Age you stop working’ and once as ‘When you put your papers in’. Give the same answer both times.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.14 (filing), p.16 (terminal leave; final 12 months measured back from the retirement date); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.11 (filing), p.13 (terminal leave), p.14 (final average salary period before the retirement date)

5 The age that pension starts

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Your pension can start later than the day you leave. Tier 2: a vested pension (you leave with at least 5 but fewer than 20 years) starts on the earliest date you could have retired for service. Tier 3: a vested pension is paid from your 20th anniversary. From age 55 you can start it earlier, but it’s reduced by 1/30 for each year it starts before that anniversary. A Tier 3 service retiree with fewer than 25 years can also choose to delay the pension to qualify for escalation.

Where to find it

The Fund, for the date that applies to you.

Why it matters

If a Tier 3 member delays the pension for escalation, no VSF builds up while you wait, and there’s no death benefit and no health insurance until the pension starts. Both booklets say City retiree health coverage needs at least 10 years of credited service, and it starts only once you’re actually collecting a pension. The Tier 2 booklet adds that the service required varies by appointment date. Under the City’s retiree health rules, members hired on or before December 27, 2001 generally need five years, so if you’re Tier 2, confirm the figure with the Fund.

If you don’t know

On the questionnaire, leave it blank if the pension starts the day you leave.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.18 (vested start), p.15 (health), p.19 (health service varies by appointment date); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.16 (vested start, 1/30 reduction), p.19 (deferral for escalation), p.12 (health); NYC Office of Labor Relations, retiree health enrollment

6 Include VSF (Variable Supplements Fund)?

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

The VSF is a $12,000 payment each year on top of your pension. You get it if you retire for service with 20 or more years. Disability retirees and vested retirees don’t get it. It’s paid once a year, on or about December 15. In the year you retire, it’s cut down to match the number of full months you were retired.

Where to find it

Your own memory: your years and the kind of retirement you expect.

Why it matters

In Tier 2, a COLA is a small yearly raise on the first $18,000 of your pension, and until you’re 62 any COLA you get is subtracted from your VSF. From 62 on, you get both in full. The Tier 3 booklet doesn’t say whether escalation or COLA is subtracted from the VSF the way Tier 2’s COLA is, so that’s a question for the Fund. New York State and New York City don’t tax the VSF, but it’s federally taxable. The VSF tax rule is the same in Tier 3, but no Tier 3 member has reached 20 years yet, so no Tier 3 VSF check has been paid.

If you don’t know

Choose ‘No / not sure of eligibility’. If you leave the box empty, it’s counted as no.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.19-20 (VSF, schedule), p.23 (COLA subtracted until 62); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.20; NYC Administrative Code §13-264

7 Have you ever taken a pension loan, even one you’ve paid back?

What it means

Tier 2: every pension loan creates a shortage, even if you’ve repaid it. That’s because loans are repaid at 4% interest while the Annuity Savings Fund earns 8.25%. A shortage still there at retirement cuts your pension. Tier 3: a loan doesn’t create a shortage, because it comes out of a separate Fund reserve. But any loan balance you still owe at retirement cuts your pension for life, unless you pay off that balance in one lump sum as of your retirement date.

Where to find it

Your own memory. Loan repayments come out of your pay automatically, so past pay records will show them. If you’re Tier 2, the Shortage line on your Fund statement shows whether there’s a shortage today.

Why it matters

The Tier 2 booklet gives an example: a 45-year-old member who retires with a $50,000 shortage has the pension cut by $4,088 a year. What your own loan did to your pension is something only the Fund can tell you.

If you don’t know

Say you’re not sure. The Pension Printout prints this as a question for the Fund either way.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.10 (repayment by payroll deduction; before 63rd birthday), p.11 (why loans cause shortages), p.13 (shortage causes; $50,000 example); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.9 (no shortage), p.10 (payroll deduction; lifetime reduction for an outstanding balance; lump-sum removal)

8 Any buyback (military, cadet, prior city service)

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Some earlier service can be bought or transferred to add service credit. In Tier 2, some of it counts toward your 20 years and some only adds money. In Tier 3, other City or State service gives neither credit nor money. Only prior police or fire time, military time, child care leave and the Chapter 58 titles count. Military service: you can buy up to three years. You need five years of police service first, plus a DD-214 showing an honorable discharge. The cost is 3% of the last 12 months’ pay for each year you buy. In Tier 3, anyone who joined on or after April 1, 2012 pays 6%. If the purchase ends up paying you nothing extra, the cost is refunded with interest. Tier 3 only: Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026 lets active Tier 3 members buy City service as a police cadet, or as a school safety agent, traffic enforcement agent or correction officer (or a supervisor in any of those titles), if that service came right before the NYPD. The form is Form 147. Anyone who applied before has to apply again.

Where to find it

Your own memory, your DD-214, and the Fund’s Membership Services unit, (212) 693-5850.

Why it matters

Buybacks and transfers have deadlines. The Tier 3 booklet says purchases have to be applied for and paid before your retirement date. In Tier 2, most service transfers and buybacks re-rate your contributions and can create a shortage.

If you don’t know

Say you’re not sure. Membership Services can tell you what’s on your record.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.4-7 (credit, transfers, RSSL §1000 at 3%, refund with interest), p.13 (buybacks can cause a shortage); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.5 (apply and pay before retirement), p.6 (3% or 6% by membership date)

9 Sworn or civilian

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This asks whether your NYPD service is uniformed.

Where to find it

Your own memory.

Why it matters

Some tax rules depend on it. For example, in Tier 2 the taxable part of a final withdrawal carries a 10% early-withdrawal penalty unless you’re over 50 or have 25 years of uniformed service. In Tier 2, for a refund of excess contributions when you retire for service, the penalty age drops from 59 and a half to 50.

If you don’t know

If you’re a uniformed member of the Police Pension Fund, the answer is sworn.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.12 (final withdrawal penalty), p.10 (refund of excess)

10 Does anyone need the cheque to keep coming after you?

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

With the Maximum Retirement Allowance, your pension stops when you die and nobody gets anything after you. The survivor options pay you a smaller pension so that someone can keep receiving a payment after you. On a straight joint-and-survivor option, if your beneficiary dies before you, your pension stays at the reduced amount. The ‘pop-up’ options go back up to the Maximum from the date your beneficiary dies.

Where to find it

The yes or no comes from you. The cost of each option comes only from the Fund. The Survivor options page lists every option, with no dollar figures.

Why it matters

The Fund works out each option’s cost from your age and your beneficiary’s age on the date you retire, and it shows you the estimated cost before your pension is finalized. After that you have 30 days to choose. If you don’t, you get the Maximum. The Tier 2 booklet says your choice generally can’t be undone.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank. Choosing an option isn’t something the calculator decides. It’s a conversation to have with the Fund’s prices in front of you.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.23-24 (options, 30 days, irrevocable); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.20-21

11 Work after you stop: annual pay, for how many years, and is that second job New York public service?

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

The booklets set pay caps for service and vested retirees under 65 who go back to work for New York State or a New York local government. Under Section 212, you can earn up to $35,000 a year without a waiver, as long as you notify the Fund in writing. Under Section 211, the employer gets a waiver. For a City job over $35,000 (other than at the Department of Education), which needs a Section 211 waiver, your cap is the current salary for your retirement rank minus your pension. Go over the cap and the Fund suspends the pension, including the VSF. Public benefit corporations (such as the MTA, NYC Health and Hospitals and the Port Authority) have no limit. From the calendar year you turn 65, there’s no limit.

Where to find it

Your own plans.

Why it matters

Whether the job is New York public service decides whether any cap applies at all. The booklets’ earnings caps cover New York State and its local governments. Disability retirees have separate rules.

If you don’t know

Choose ‘Not sure yet’ on Your Full Retirement Plan. That answer is passed to a person to go through, and the page won’t model a cap for it.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.26-27 (Sections 211, 212, public benefit corporations, 65 and over), p.27-28 (disability retirees); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.22-23

12 457(b) you would draw each year

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This is how much you’d take out of your Deferred Compensation account each year once you’ve retired.

Where to find it

This is your own choice.

Why it matters

Money in a government 457(b) has no 10% early-withdrawal tax after you leave, at any age. The exception is money rolled into the 457 from a 401(k), 403(b) or IRA: that part can carry the 10% tax if you take it out before 59 and a half. Withdrawals are taxed as ordinary federal income. New York doesn’t treat them as a government pension. The only New York break is an exclusion of up to $20,000 a year, shared across all your private pensions, deferred comp and IRAs, and only from age 59 and a half on money taken as a series of payments over more than a year. A lump sum doesn’t qualify.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

Source: Internal Revenue Code §72(t); NY Tax Law §612(c)(3-a)

13 How you’d describe yourself as an investor, what you’d do in a decline, and your investment objectives

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

These ask how much ups and downs you can live with. They aren’t asking you to pick a rate of return.

Where to find it

Your own view. If you have a spouse, theirs too.

Why it matters

Your answers shape the conversation with our team about how money would be invested. They don’t change the pension.

If you don’t know

Tick what’s closest. If you and your spouse would answer differently, tick both.

14 First name and email (Bill Watch ‘Email me when it moves’; ‘Want the follow-ups?’ on Your Full Retirement Plan)

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This is contact information, so you can get updates.

Where to find it

Your own memory.

Why it matters

It’s how you’d hear from us. It doesn’t change any figure.

If you don’t know

Both are optional. Everything else works without them.

15 Anything else you want to ask

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

A free-text box on the Pension Printout.

Where to find it

Your own questions.

Why it matters

Whatever you type prints on your Snapshot, so it goes with you to the Fund or to the call.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

16 Your rank when you retire, and your years in that rank

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Both booklets describe Pension Longevity Enhancements, which raise the pension whatever type of retirement you take. Police Officer: if you retire as a Police Officer after 25 years in that rank, part of your pension is figured at the top 3rd Grade Detective rate. At 30 years in rank, it’s the Sergeant rate. Beyond time worked, only retro military seniority, childcare leave, and active military service while you were in the NYPD count toward those years. Detective, Sergeant and Lieutenant, with at least three years in rank: once you reach 25, 30 or 35 years of total uniformed service, 5%, 10% or 15% of the top rank in your union (plus longevity) is added to the salary your pension is figured on. The 25, 30 and 35 count your whole uniformed service, not your years in rank. Under the City law behind this (Administrative Code §14-114(d), which your booklet doesn’t quote), the addition counts over a two-year period, and you can’t also collect the Police Officer enhancement. Captain and above: years in the rank of Captain set which higher rank’s salary part of your pension is figured on. The booklet’s table reads Deputy Inspector for 5 to 10 years, Inspector for 10 to 15, and Deputy Chief for 15 or more. The bands overlap at exactly 10 and 15 years, so if you’re at one of those marks, ask the Fund which applies. If you retire for service, your rank at retirement decides which fund pays your VSF. Detectives and anyone ranked sergeant or higher (lieutenants, captains and above) are paid from the superior officers’ fund. Police officers are paid from the police officers’ fund. The amount is the same $12,000.

Where to find it

You know your rank. For your years in rank, the Fund’s record is the one that counts.

Why it matters

The Fund’s own estimate may include a longevity enhancement that the calculator’s figure leaves out. That’s one possible reason your two figures differ. On the calculator, version 1 uses your rank for wording only. It doesn’t change the dollar figure.

If you don’t know

Skip it. The dropdown is optional and changes only the wording.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.17-18; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.14-15

17 Police annuity fund, and how it is invested

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This is any annuity account you hold through your union. The Police Pension Fund booklets don’t cover it, so check your union annuity fund’s own statement or plan documents for its rules. It isn’t the Annuity Savings Fund on a Tier 2 Fund statement, which is covered further down.

Where to find it

Your union annuity fund’s latest statement.

Why it matters

It’s money that belongs to you, and the plan counts it as savings. The booklets say nothing about union annuity funds, so there are no rules to quote here.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank, or write ‘not sure’.

18 Final Average Salary (FAS)

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This is the salary figure your pension is built on, and it’s more than your base pay. What counts: base salary, overtime, night differential, holiday pay, worked vacation, portal to portal and allowable longevity. What doesn’t count, per the Tier 2 booklet: uniform allowance, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) payments and excluded longevity. The Tier 3 booklet doesn’t print an exclusion list, but those items aren’t on its list of what counts either. Longevity counts in steps. At 20 years your 5- and 10-year longevity counts. At 25 years your 15- and 20-year longevity counts too. How it’s averaged depends on your tier. Tier 3: your highest 3 consecutive calendar years or 36 months before retirement. Any year more than 10% above the average of the two before it is trimmed back. Tier 2 appointed on or after July 1, 2000: your final 12 months, capped at 120% of the 12 months before. Tier 2 appointed before July 1, 2000: the greatest of your final 12 months, the average of your final 36 months, or your best three consecutive calendar years.

Where to find it

Your pay records give you the pieces. Gross pay on a W-2 runs high, because it includes pay that doesn’t count, such as uniform allowance and FLSA payments. Its federal taxable-wages box can run low instead, because your pension contributions come out before federal tax. The Fund gives you a pension estimate when you meet a retirement processor after applying to retire. Ask the Fund whether it will run a figure earlier for the date you’re aiming at (see the Fund questions below).

Why it matters

In both tiers a service pension at 20 years starts at 50% of this figure. In Tier 3 it’s then reduced at 62 by half of your primary Social Security benefit, and in Tier 2 it’s adjusted up or down for any excess or shortage in your contribution account. Nobody can give an exact figure in advance, not even the Fund. Overtime, night differential and worked vacation you earn between the Fund’s estimate and your real retirement date get added when your pension is finalized, and any difference is paid to you as back pay.

If you don’t know

A close number is fine. The calculator is asking for your best estimate.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.7 (pensionable earnings), p.16-17 (averaging, caps, exclusions, longevity steps), p.16 (estimate only); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.7 (pensionable earnings, longevity), p.14 (final average salary)

19 Your best 3 consecutive years (average)

Tier 2, appointed before July 1, 2000

What it means

The Fund compares three averages and uses the greatest: your final 12 months, your final 36 months, and your best three consecutive calendar years. This is the third one.

Where to find it

Your pay records for three calendar years in a row. Leave out uniform allowance, FLSA payments and any longevity that doesn’t count yet, because none of it counts. Also, no single year can count for more than 120% of the average of the two years before it.

Why it matters

The booklet says the Fund uses the greatest of the averages it compares. If your best three years beat your final 12 months, a figure based only on the final 12 months will come out low.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank, and ask the Fund for all three averages. A figure built on your final 12 months alone can come out low.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.16 (three bases), p.17 (120% cap on the 36-month and best-three bases)

20 Total pensionable earnings in the twelve months before your final year

Tier 2

What it means

If your salary is measured over your final 12 months, those months can’t count for more than 120% of the 12 months before them.

Where to find it

Your paystubs for those 12 months, minus uniform allowance, FLSA payments and any longevity that doesn’t count yet, or the Fund’s estimate. A W-2 only lines up if you retire at the end of a calendar year, and it includes pay that doesn’t count.

Why it matters

If you’re planning a heavy overtime year on the way out, part of it may not count.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank. It’s used in the conversation, not in the calculator.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.16-17

21 Base pay, and overtime and extras

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Your pay today. This is a different number from the final average salary above.

Where to find it

Last year’s tax return, or your W-2.

Why it matters

The plan uses it for the years you’re still working and for how much you’re saving. It doesn’t set the pension.

If you don’t know

A round number is fine.

22 Does this job take Social Security out of your pay?

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This asks whether you pay into Social Security through your NYPD job. Our firm’s checked facts say uniformed NYPD members are covered and pay FICA, the payroll tax that includes Social Security.

Where to find it

A paystub, where it shows as Social Security or FICA.

Why it matters

It affects your own Social Security benefit. In Tier 3 it also matters at 62, when a service pension is reduced by half of your primary Social Security benefit, whether or not you’ve started collecting Social Security. Some disability pensions are figured differently.

If you don’t know

Say you’re not sure. A paystub answers it.

Source: SSA, Police Officers and Firefighters; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.15

23 Accrued time and terminal leave, and whether you’d take it as time or a lump sum

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

After your last day on active duty you can take all your accrued time and terminal leave. Tier 2 members can ask for a lump sum for that time instead. The Tier 3 booklet says you can ask for a lump sum for any terminal leave you don’t use. This applies to a service retirement. A vested retirement doesn’t come with terminal leave. All accrued time has to be used before terminal leave starts. You stay on the active payroll during terminal leave. FLSA payments are pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Tier 2 booklet says they don’t count toward your pension.

Where to find it

Payroll or the Fund. Ask payroll for your current balances and when the final amounts are fixed.

Why it matters

Taking it as time or as money changes when you’re paid and your date on the active payroll.

If you don’t know

Say you’re not sure, and name who you’d ask.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.16 (terminal leave), p.17 (FLSA not pensionable), p.18 (no terminal leave for vested retirees); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.13, p.16 (no terminal leave for vested retirees)

24 Annuity Savings Fund (ASF) Balance, and the ‘As of this date’ at the top of the first box

Tier 2 only

What it means

The Tier 3 booklet has no ASF. This is your own money: what came out of your paychecks into the pension fund, plus the interest the Fund has credited on it. In Tier 2 that interest is 8.25%, compounded every year.

Where to find it

The first box on your statement, headed Required Amount Information. The second box often carries a different date. Your current balance is on webCOPS (the Fund’s online portal), where you can also download and send in the Fund’s request forms. A form sent through webCOPS doesn’t need a notary. One sent any other way does, and an affidavit always does.

Why it matters

Comparing this balance with the required amount tells you whether you have an excess or a shortage, and the final withdrawal is built from the required amount plus any excess.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank. The Read your Fund statement page won’t work anything out from a blank, and the figures you type there stay on your device.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.7 (8.25%)

25 Required Amount

Tier 2

What it means

This is the amount that has to stay in your account for you to get your pension with no reduction. It isn’t a bill, and it isn’t money you’ve lost. It stops growing once you’re eligible for service retirement. Tier 3 has a required amount too: 3% of pay plus interest set by law.

Where to find it

The first box on your statement.

Why it matters

If your balance falls below it, you have a shortage. The Tier 2 final withdrawal is capped at 90% of this figure plus some or all of your excess.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.7 (required amount, freezes at eligibility), p.14 (final withdrawal); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.7

26 Shortage Amount (it says NA, or it shows an amount)

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

A shortage means your balance is below the required amount. Tier 2 names four causes: a pension loan (even a repaid one), stopping your contributions, a service transfer or most buybacks, and back pay from a contract settlement. In Tier 2, a shortage you haven’t repaid by retirement cuts your pension. The Fund converts the shortage into a yearly amount using its own tables. In Tier 3 there’s no such cut instead. You can’t collect a pension at all while there’s a shortage, and the Fund tells you about it before you retire.

Where to find it

The first box on your statement.

Why it matters

In Tier 2 you can pay off a shortage before retirement with a lump sum of $500 or more, by waiving ITHP (the City’s share of your contribution), or by making 50% Additional contributions. In Tier 3 you can pay it off in a lump sum or through payroll deductions.

If you don’t know

Choose the option that matches what your statement shows.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.13 (causes, effect), p.14 (reducing a shortage); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.8-9

27 Excess Amount

Tier 2

What it means

This is the part of your balance above the required amount. It isn’t just sitting idle. If you haven’t asked for it back by the time you retire, your pension goes up by what the Fund works out it’s worth as a yearly amount. You can ask for it back once you have 20 or more years and no shortage. The booklet doesn’t settle whether taking it also reduces the pension, so that goes to the Fund. Tier 3 is different: you can take excess out within six months of appointment or when you separate.

Where to find it

The first box on your statement.

Why it matters

Your balance minus the required amount comes to this figure. If yours doesn’t, check what you’ve typed, and if the numbers still don’t match, take the gap to the Fund.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.10; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.8

28 Service Without Final Withdrawal (monthly and yearly)

Tier 2

What it means

This appears to be the Fund’s estimate of your yearly pension if you take no final withdrawal. The booklet doesn’t describe this line, so check with the Fund whether it’s before tax.

Where to find it

The second box on your statement, headed Pension Estimate. It often carries a different date from the first box.

Why it matters

This is the Fund’s own estimate. The calculator’s figure is arithmetic on what you typed. It’s still an estimate: the booklet says overtime, night differential and worked vacation you earn before your actual retirement date get added when your pension is finalized.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.16 (estimate only)

29 Service With Final Withdrawal (monthly and yearly)

Tier 2

What it means

This appears to be the Fund’s estimate of your yearly pension if you take the final withdrawal. The booklet doesn’t describe this line, so check with the Fund whether it’s before tax.

Where to find it

The second box on your statement.

Why it matters

The gap between this figure and the one above is what the withdrawal would cost you each year, for as long as the pension is paid.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.14 (withdrawal reduces the pension for life)

30 Available Final Withdrawal

Tier 2

What it means

This is the lump sum the Fund is quoting you. The booklet says you can take up to 90% of your required amount plus some or all of your excess, and that doing so cuts your pension for life. The taxable part has 20% federal tax withheld unless you choose a direct rollover to an IRA or another qualified account. It also carries a 10% early-withdrawal penalty unless you’re over 50 or have 25 years of uniformed service.

Where to find it

The second box on your statement.

Why it matters

The booklet says the final withdrawal can be part taxable and part non-taxable, and it doesn’t tell you your own split, so ask the Fund. The booklet also describes the withdrawal two ways on two pages. Page 12 mentions only the 90% of the required amount. Page 14 adds the excess. So the Fund is the one to confirm how your own figure was built.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.12 (withholding, penalty, rollover), p.14 (ceiling and effect)

31 Banked VSF

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

The Fund also calls this the VSF DROP, or the Banked Variable. If you stay on active duty past your 20th anniversary and then retire for service, you may be entitled to a lump sum covering the VSF payments you’d have received if you had retired at your earliest service-retirement date. The count starts from that date or January 1, 2002, whichever is later. It’s paid on or about December 15 of the year you retire, if you retire before December 1. If you retire in December, it’s paid the following December. It can be rolled over, subject to IRS rules. It isn’t paid if you die in active service. The Tier 2 booklet adds that it isn’t paid on a disability retirement either.

Where to find it

The second box on your statement. Where the calculator shows an estimate of this, it’s labelled as an estimate. The figure on your statement is the Fund’s.

Why it matters

It’s a lump sum that people often don’t plan for. Ask the Fund whether it’s recalculated to your actual retirement date and which 20th-anniversary date they’re counting from.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.20; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.20

32 Death Gamble

Tier 2

What it means

The Tier 3 booklet describes no death gamble. If you’re Tier 3, ask the Fund what applies to you. This is the Fund’s own label, not ours. It covers deaths not in the line of duty, for active members with more than 20 years of service and for members who’ve retired for service but whose pension hasn’t been finalized yet. The member is treated as having retired for service the day before they died. It’s never paid to you. It goes to your beneficiary, who can take it as one lump sum or as income for life.

Where to find it

The second box on your statement.

Why it matters

It’s often the largest number on the sheet, and it’s the one people most often misread. Ask the Fund exactly where the cover ends and what happens to it the day you file.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.29

33 If the Fund has given you an estimate, what it says

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This is the Fund’s own figure for your pension. Members of both tiers can see their account through webCOPS. Once you meet a retirement processor, you also get an estimate of your final pension and of your pension before it’s finalized.

Where to find it

Your Fund statement, or the estimate from your retirement appointment.

Why it matters

It’s the Fund’s figure, not a formula’s. Right now the calculator passes its own gross figure (VSF included) to Your Full Retirement Plan, so if you have the Fund’s figure, you can type it over.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank on the questionnaire. The calculator’s figure stands in the meantime.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.16; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.13

34 Total pensionable earnings since your 20th anniversary

Tier 2

What it means

On top of 50% of your final average salary, a Tier 2 service pension adds 1/60 of your total earnings after your 20th anniversary.

Where to find it

The Fund’s estimate.

Why it matters

Leave this out and the figure comes out low for anyone past 20 years.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank if you haven’t reached 20 years yet. If you have, ask the Fund.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.19

35 Can you work out my final average salary for my intended retirement date, and show me which months you’ll use and what’s in them?

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This asks for the working behind the figure your whole pension is built on. For most members the period is measured back from your retirement date, so the date itself changes what counts. Tier 3, and Tier 2 members appointed before July 1, 2000, can instead be paid on their best three consecutive calendar years.

Where to find it

Only the Fund has it.

Why it matters

It’s the one question on the list that could change your retirement date. Both tiers cap how fast your pay can rise in the years that count. In Tier 2, on the final-12-months basis, your final year can’t be more than 120% of the year before. In Tier 3, any year in the period is capped at 10% over the average of the two years before it.

If you don’t know

Nothing to fill in. This is a question for the Fund, and it prints on your question sheet.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.16-17; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.14

36 What does each survivor election cost me a year in dollars, priced on my beneficiary’s date of birth?

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Nobody outside the Fund can price these. The cost depends on your age and your beneficiary’s age when you retire. Ask about each option by name, because the numbers differ between the tiers. For example, 100% Joint and Survivor is Option Two in Tier 2 and Option 1 in Tier 3.

Where to find it

Only the Fund. It shows you the estimated cost before your pension is finalized.

Why it matters

You have 30 days after they tell you. If you don’t choose, you get the Maximum, which stops when you die.

If you don’t know

Nothing to fill in. It prints on your question sheet.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.23 (Option Two, cost, 30 days); Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.20-21 (Option 1)

37 What’s the separate record of my after-tax money in the Annuity Savings Fund?

Tier 2

What it means

Some of your contributions may already have been taxed. The booklet says 50% Additional contributions go in after tax, and contributions made before December 1, 1989 were subject to federal tax. Ask as well how the tax-free part comes out of a withdrawal. The booklet doesn’t say, and your tax professional will need it in writing.

Where to find it

Only the Fund. There’s no box for it on any of our pages. A half-remembered figure is worse than none.

Why it matters

Until the Fund puts it in writing, you have no figure for how much of a withdrawal was already taxed.

If you don’t know

Leave it for the Fund’s written answer.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.7 (pre-12/1/1989 contributions taxed), p.9 (50% Additional after tax), p.14 (may be withdrawn tax-free)

38 How much of my Available Final Withdrawal is a refund of excess and how much comes from my required amount? And can you quote me two or three smaller amounts?

Tier 2

What it means

The quoted figure is a maximum that mixes the two parts, so ask the Fund for the split.

Where to find it

Only the Fund.

Why it matters

The booklet doesn’t settle whether taking excess costs you the same as taking part of your required amount. Ask the Fund which part a smaller withdrawal comes from and what each part does to your pension. One quote gives you a single point. Several give you a range.

If you don’t know

Nothing to fill in. It prints on your question sheet.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.10, p.14

39 Will you confirm in writing whether the 10% penalty applies to me, how the 1099-R will be coded, and whether you’ll split a rollover between pre-tax and after-tax money?

Tier 2

What it means

A 1099-R is the tax form issued for a withdrawal. For a refund of excess, the booklet says the Comptroller’s Office sends you a 1099 at the end of the year. The booklet sets the penalty age at 50, or 25 years of uniformed service, for a final withdrawal.

Where to find it

Only the Fund.

Why it matters

Your accountant will rely on how the 1099-R is coded, so get the code in writing before you withdraw. The Fund’s booklet says it can’t give tax advice, so the tax side goes to your own tax professional.

If you don’t know

Nothing to fill in.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.12, p.10, p.3 (Fund gives no tax advice)

40 Did a pension loan, even a repaid one, leave a shortage, and what does it do to my pension? (Tier 3: what reduction will an outstanding loan balance cause?)

What it means

Tier 2: every loan leaves a shortage. Tier 3: only a balance still owed at retirement matters.

Where to find it

Only the Fund can put a dollar figure on it. In Tier 3 the Fund tells you the reduction at retirement.

Why it matters

The effect is permanent. In Tier 2 you can repay a shortage before you retire. In Tier 3 you can remove the reduction by paying off the outstanding balance in one lump sum as of your retirement date.

If you don’t know

Nothing to fill in. It prints on your Pension Printout.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.11, p.13-14; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.9-10

41 How long is the gap between my last day and my first pension payment, how much will the first payments be, and what are my beneficiary’s rights in that window?

What it means

Tier 2: until the City’s Chief Actuary certifies your pension, you’re paid about 95% of your estimated final pension. Any retroactive adjustment to your pension is included in the first full payment. The booklet adds that if you’re choosing a survivor option, you may want more than 5% held back, because the option makes your pension lower. Tier 3: the booklet says you get an estimate of your pension before it’s finalized, but it gives no percentage.

Where to find it

The Fund. Neither booklet says how long the window lasts.

Why it matters

It affects the cash you’ll have in the first months. Ask what your beneficiary would receive if you died before your pension is finalized.

If you don’t know

Nothing to fill in. It prints on your question sheet.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.25; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.13

42 Does your estimate include a Pension Longevity Enhancement for my rank, my years of service and my years in rank, and which VSF fund pays me?

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This checks whether the Fund’s figure includes an enhancement tied to your rank and your service that the calculator doesn’t model.

Where to find it

Only the Fund.

Why it matters

It could explain a gap between the Fund’s figure and the calculator’s.

If you don’t know

Nothing to fill in. It’s added to the Pension Printout’s questions when you give your rank.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.17-18; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.14-15

43 What is in your 457(b) today

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This is your balance in the NYC Deferred Compensation Plan. Your Full Retirement Plan’s box is wider and covers any 401(k), 403(b) or traditional IRA too, so add those there.

Where to find it

Your latest Deferred Compensation statement.

Why it matters

A government 457(b) has no 10% early-withdrawal tax at any age once you separate from service. The one exception is money rolled in from a 401(k), a 403(b) or an IRA: if you take that part out before 59 and a half, it can carry the 10%. If you move 457 money into an IRA, it falls under IRA rules, and then withdrawals before 59 and a half can carry the 10% penalty.

If you don’t know

A round number is fine.

Source: Internal Revenue Code §72(t)

44 Going in each year from here

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

How much you put into the 457 each year.

Where to find it

Your Deferred Compensation statement, or the deduction on your paystub.

Why it matters

The 2026 limit is $24,500. From age 50 you can add $8,000 more. From 60 to 63 the extra is $11,250 instead of the $8,000.

If you don’t know

A rough figure is fine.

Source: IRS Notice 2025-67 (2026 limits)

45 Has any money been moved into the 457, and where from?

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This asks whether any money came into the 457 from a 401(k), a 403(b) or an IRA from an earlier job.

Where to find it

Your Deferred Compensation statement or your own records.

Why it matters

Rolled-in money keeps one rule from where it came from: taken out before 59 and a half, it can carry the 10% penalty that ordinary 457 money doesn’t.

If you don’t know

Say you’re not sure.

Source: Internal Revenue Code §72(t)

46 The normal retirement age your 457 plan uses, and any years you put in less than the maximum

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

In the three years before the plan’s normal retirement age, a government 457(b) lets you put in up to twice the usual yearly limit. Deferred Comp can tell you exactly how much extra you can add. You can’t use it in the same year as the age-50 catch-up. You use whichever is greater.

Where to find it

The plan’s summary, or one call to Deferred Comp. Your past statements show what you put in each year.

Why it matters

In 2026 that could mean up to $49,000.

If you don’t know

A rough answer is still useful.

Source: Internal Revenue Code §457(b)(3); IRS Notice 2025-67 (2026 limits)

47 Which funds your 457 is in, and roughly the split

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Which investment options you hold inside the plan.

Where to find it

Your latest 457 statement.

Why it matters

It’s part of the conversation about your investments with our team.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank. It doesn’t change the pension or the calculator.

48 Going forward, traditional 457 or Roth

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This asks which kind of 457 contribution you plan to make from now on.

Where to find it

This is your own choice.

Why it matters

It’s a decision to talk through with our team. It isn’t a calculator input.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

49 Social Security, a month when it starts

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

This is your estimated Social Security benefit.

Where to find it

Your my Social Security account at ssa.gov/myaccount. You sign in through Login.gov or ID.me. You’ll need an email address, a government photo ID and a phone number, and it takes about 15 to 30 minutes. Each person needs their own account. The statement shows estimates at 62, at full retirement age and at 70.

Why it matters

SSA’s estimate assumes you keep earning at your current rate until you claim. So if you retire in your early forties, it overstates what you’ll get. For most Tier 3 pensions, the Fund reduces the pension at 62 by half of your primary Social Security benefit, counting the public work you earned pension credit for, whether or not you’ve claimed it. Some disability pensions are treated differently. For Tier 3, the Fund works out the amount of that reduction when you retire.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank. Your Social Security is then counted as zero, which makes your picture look worse than it really is.

Source: ssa.gov/myaccount; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.15-16; NYS Comptroller, Social Security Adjustment

50 The age you would claim it

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

The age you’d start Social Security.

Where to find it

This is your own choice. The statement shows what each age pays.

Why it matters

Waiting past full retirement age raises the benefit by 8% a year, up to age 70. Waiting before full retirement age only shrinks the early-claiming cut. For most Tier 3 pensions, the reduction at 62 happens whether or not you claim.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank. Your Full Retirement Plan assumes 67.

Source: SSA, Delayed Retirement Credits; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.15

51 Filing Status (how you file your taxes)

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Single, or married filing jointly.

Where to find it

Last year’s tax return.

Why it matters

It sets the federal tax on a service or vested pension and on the VSF, which is paid only on a service retirement. An accident disability pension is mostly or entirely free of federal tax. New York State and City don’t tax either one.

If you don’t know

If you skip it, the Pension Printout assumes married filing jointly. Check that line on your printout.

Source: NY Tax Law §612(c)(3)(i); NYC Administrative Code §13-264; Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.22; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.18

52 State of Residence

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

The calculator asks where you live now. Your Full Retirement Plan asks where you’ll live once you’ve retired.

Where to find it

Your own plans.

Why it matters

New York State and City don’t tax NYC pensions or the VSF. Once you’re no longer a New York resident, New York can’t tax the pension, and your new state’s rules apply instead. The Fund’s booklets say state tax laws differ and change.

If you don’t know

Choose ‘Other / not sure’ on the calculator. On Your Full Retirement Plan, if you pick ‘Another state’, the plan uses New York’s figures and says so. If you leave it blank, it also uses New York’s figures.

Source: NY Tax Law §612(c)(3)(i); NYC Administrative Code §13-264; 4 U.S.C. §114; Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.22; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.18

53 What you want to live on each month, after tax

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

What leaves your account in a normal month. On the Pension Printout, include your mortgage or rent: it doesn’t ask for them separately. On Your Full Retirement Plan and the questionnaire, leave the mortgage payment out, because they ask for it separately and add it on. It’s not a budget you mean to stick to. Watch the units: the calculator and Your Full Retirement Plan ask per month, and the questionnaire asks per year.

Where to find it

Your bank statements. The questionnaire also accepts another route: how much your savings grew last year, from this December’s statement against last December’s.

Why it matters

The plan weighs your pension, VSF and savings against it.

If you don’t know

A range is fine, and it doesn’t need to be tidy.

54 What health cover costs you a year once you stop

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Your yearly out-of-pocket cost for health cover in retirement.

Where to find it

Your plan’s rates. The NYC Office of Labor Relations, Employee Health Benefits, is on (212) 306-7390.

Why it matters

City retiree health coverage needs 10 years of credited service, and it only applies while you’re collecting a pension. The City pays the basic premium up to the HIP HMO rate. You pay the prescription drug rider, plus anything above that cap if you choose a more expensive plan.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.15; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.12-13; NYC Office of Labor Relations, retiree health enrollment; NYC Office of Labor Relations, retiree health plan rates, July 1, 2026

55 Your spouse’s or beneficiary’s date of birth, your date of marriage, and your children’s dates of birth

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

These are household dates.

Where to find it

Your own records.

Why it matters

The cost of a survivor option depends on your age and your beneficiary’s age on the day you retire. When you file to retire, both booklets say the Fund asks for your spouse’s date of birth and Social Security number, your date of marriage, your dependent children’s dates of birth and Social Security numbers, your health plan card, and your spouse’s employer health plan if they have one.

If you don’t know

Leave the marriage date blank if it doesn’t apply.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.15-16, p.23; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.13, p.20

56 Your spouse’s pay, the age their income stops, and their Social Security estimate

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Your spouse’s side of the household income.

Where to find it

Your spouse’s own records and their own my Social Security account. Each person needs their own login.

Why it matters

On the questionnaire, a second person’s Social Security is counted as zero until you give it. Your Full Retirement Plan keeps these answers only while the browser tab is open.

If you don’t know

Leave them blank and say so on the call.

Source: ssa.gov/myaccount

57 Other savings: Roth accounts, investment accounts, cash, your emergency reserve, and any other retirement accounts

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Everything outside the Pension Fund and the 457.

Where to find it

Each account’s latest statement.

Why it matters

The plan counts these alongside the pension.

If you don’t know

Round numbers are fine.

58 Your home, mortgage and any second home

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

What your home is worth, whether you own or rent, your mortgage payment and years left, and any second home you’d buy, with whether it would be cash or financed.

Where to find it

Your mortgage statement and your own estimate.

Why it matters

The mortgage payment is part of your monthly outgoings. The questionnaire notes that paying cash or financing a second home changes the plan more than the price does.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank.

59 How long the plan runs to

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

The age the plan’s figures run out to.

Where to find it

Your own choice.

Why it matters

A longer horizon asks more of your savings.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank. Your Full Retirement Plan assumes 92.

60 Dependents, and any school or college you’re paying for

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Who depends on you, and any education costs you plan to cover.

Where to find it

Your own records. For money already set aside, the latest 529 or other account statement.

Why it matters

College costs are part of the plan.

If you don’t know

Leave it blank if it doesn’t apply.

61 Which accounts and property are in one name, and which are joint

Tier 2 and Tier 3

What it means

Whose name is on each account and each property.

Where to find it

Your account statements and your deed.

Why it matters

It decides what a survivor ends up holding. Most pension death benefits and your 457 balance go to the beneficiary you named with the Fund or the plan, not through your will. A line-of-duty death pension is different. The law sets who gets it: your spouse first, then qualifying children, then a dependent parent, and your beneficiary form doesn’t change that. The lump sums paid alongside it go to the beneficiary you named. The booklets say to also check your beneficiary with your union and with Deferred Comp.

If you don’t know

A line for each account is plenty.

Source: Tier 2 booklet, June 2026 p.29 (line-of-duty order), p.30-31; Tier 3 booklet, June 2026 p.26 (line-of-duty order), p.27