Terms and Definitions

Alternate Address: The Retirement Systems requires a current address so that we can deliver important communications. If your retirement date is on or before Dec. 1, 2023, your first retirement benefit payment will be sent in the form of a paper check, even if you enroll in direct deposit.

If you spend time at an alternate address for part of the year or if you plan to move soon after retirement, be sure to list an address on your retirement application that you will have access to for at least six months after you retire. After you retire and receive your first benefit payment, you can log in to ORBIT to update your address by selecting "Maintain Personal Information" in the left navigation. Here, you can view and edit your primary and alternate address.

Application Window: You must complete your retirement application within 120 days of beginning the online process, or you will have to start the process over and select a new retirement date. State law specifies that if a member fails to respond within 120 days after transmission of the benefit estimate or the retirement date, whichever is later, the application for retirement will be canceled. A new application must be completed establishing a new retirement date. The Retirement Systems Division is not liable for any benefits due a member because of a voided retirement application.

Average Final Compensation: The average of your salary during your four highest-paid years in a row. If your four highest-paid years in a row include a final payment for unused vacation leave and/or prorated longevity, your average final compensation may be increased by the extra payment(s). Final payments, if any, for unused sick leave or reimbursements for expenses are not includable in your AFC.

Date of Birth: The Retirement Systems Division requires your legal name, birth date and Social Security Number at retirement to ensure the retirement benefit is paid to the member that we have on file. The following government-issued, unexpired documents may be used:

Driver's license
Passport
Military ID
State-issued ID

COLA: Cost of Living Adjustment for retirees and benefit recipients.

Teachers' and State Employees' pensions are funded in part by the General Assembly. The TSERS Board of Trustees works each year to make sure the TSERS pension plan is funded, and supports COLAs for TSERS retirees, when investment gains warrant one being granted.
Local Government Employees' pensions are funded through the financial support of the governing bodies and employees of local governments. COLAs for LGERS are solely funded by participating LGERS employers.

Contribution-Based Benefit Cap: For more information on the Contribution-Based Benefit Cap, please visit this web page.

Creditable Service: The total of all service credit that counts toward retirement. It includes membership service for any period you contribute to your system, provided you have not withdrawn your contributions. It also includes credit for eligible purchased service and eligible unused sick leave that is converted to creditable service at retirement.

Direct Deposit: Your first benefit payment will be sent by direct deposit if the information is received and acknowledged by the Retirement Systems before your effective retirement date. Otherwise, a paper check will be mailed. To learn more about the benefits of using direct deposit for your benefit payments, click here.

Effective Retirement Date: This is the date you want your retirement to begin. You cannot apply for retirement until at least 120 days before your effective retirement date. If you apply for retirement close to your effective retirement date, you may receive a retroactive retirement benefit payment.

For Teachers and State Employees, to be legally retired, you must end your employment, live until your effective date of retirement and perform no work for a TSERS employer, including part-time, temporary, substitute, or contract work, at any time during the six months immediately following your effective date of retirement (except as a school board member, a member of a board of trustees of a community college or of any constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, or an unpaid bona fide volunteer).
For Local Government Employees, to be legally retired, you must end your employment, live until your effective date of retirement and perform no work for a participating LGERS employer, including part-time, temporary, substitute, or contract work at any time during the same month immediately following the effective first day of retirement.

First Regular Payday: Generally, the 25th of the month of the effective retirement date. If the 25th falls on a weekend or holiday, the first regular payday is the last State government business day before the 25th.

First Recorded Payment: The date the first retirement payment is recorded as issued by the Retirement Systems. For paper checks, this will be before the check is cashed. Often, the first recorded payment is the same as the first regular payday but could differ in certain situations.

Last Day of Work: This is the last day worked with your most recent state or local government employer and may include any unused leave. When determining your eligibility for retirement, this date is an important factor to consider. For example, if the first day you are eligible for retirement is July 1, you will need to remain on your employer’s payroll into June. You cannot, for example, select May 1 as your last day of work unless you have sufficient vacation or other leave time to remain an active employee in June. Otherwise, you may not be eligible. For more information about eligibility requirements, talk to your employer or click here to read the member handbook for your retirement system.

Last Position Held: This is your last position title held with an employer.

Legal Name: The Retirement Systems Division needs your legal name, birth date and Social Security Number at retirement to ensure the retirement benefit is paid to the member that we have on file. The following government-issued, unexpired documents may be used:

Driver's license
Passport
Military ID
State-issued ID

One-Time Supplemental Payment (OTSP): A one-time supplemental payment is a single payment added to a retiree's monthly benefit payment. Where a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) may be an increase that continues forward in a monthly benefit payment, OTSPs are delivered and then the monthly payment returns to the regular monthly amount the following pay period.

Teachers' and State Employees' pensions are funded in part by the General Assembly.
Local Government Employees' pensions are funded through the financial support of the governing bodies and employees of local governments.

Plan Type: The benefits through the North Carolina Retirement Systems are 401(a) Defined Benefit Plan Benefits qualified under the Internal Revenue Code. This means that:

A member’s monthly retirement benefit is based on a defined formula.
The benefit is not based on the amount of the member’s contributions or interest.
The benefit is not based on the amount of the employer’s contribution.
We are not a defined contribution plan.

Retirement Calculation: Retirement benefits are calculated using a standard formula established by the Boards of Trustees for the Retirement Systems. As a state or local governmental employee who works for an employer that participates in the Retirement Systems, you have access to ORBIT. Log in to your ORBIT account and click Create a Custom Benefit Estimate in the left navigation. This calculator provides you with an estimate of what your retirement benefits might be when you become eligible. For more information on how to retirement benefits are calculated, including a video which provides an overview of the calculation, click here

Accrual Rate/Retirement Factor: The retirement factor is determined by the North Carolina General Assembly. The accrual rate is used in the retirement calculation. The current factors are:

1.82% for Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System
1.85% for Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System

Security Code: This is a random six-digit number sent to your personal email or mobile device that is used to authenticate or verify your identity so you can access your ORBIT account. This usually is prompted when you are using a device or browser that has not been used previously or when you clear your history in a browser.

Social Security Number (SSN): The Retirement Systems Division needs your legal name, birth date and SSN at retirement to ensure the retirement benefit is paid to the member that we have on file. A copy of your Social Security card must be provided during the retirement application process if you need to make any changes to the SSN we have on file for you.