Updated September 3, 2026. Quick answer: Minnesota Teachers Retirement Association (TRA): the COLA is automatic and set by statutory formula, and it compounds, service credit can be purchased, and no DROP was found. Vesting takes three years of service credit.
Provisional. This page is published at medium confidence. The specific points that could not be confirmed are listed under What could not be verified below, and are named rather than smoothed over.
The verdicts
| Is the COLA granted? | Automatic (statutory formula) |
|---|---|
| Is the COLA compounded? | Compounded |
| Vesting | 3 years of service credit |
| Buy service credit? | Yes |
| DROP? | None found |
| State | Minnesota |
Those first two rows are separate questions and are routinely confused. Whether you get an increase at all is one thing; whether it compounds is another. A system can grant an increase automatically every year and still compute it against your original benefit forever, which is a materially worse deal than it sounds.
The COLA
“Each January, if specified by law, a postretirement increase may be made to your monthly benefit”: described elsewhere on the system’s own site as “an annual, compounding benefit increase for eligible benefit recipients.” Scheduled rates are 1.3% effective January 1, 2026, 1.4% effective January 1, 2027, and 1.5% effective January 1, 2028 and thereafter. A 2025 rule change added a delay for new retirees: “Effective June 30, 2025, all new TRA retirees have a post-retirement increase delay until the January 1st following the year in which they reach normal retirement age” (disability and survivor benefits are exempt from the delay).
Buying service credit
TRA members can purchase prior military service, a range of leaves of absence (extended, family, medical, military, parental, sabbatical), and up to 5 years of out-of-state PreK–12 teaching service. “Prior service credit purchase amount is based on the full actuarial cost.” Out-of-state purchases require the same: “You must pay the full actuarial cost.”
Run your own numbers before deciding: some purchases never recover their cost, and the calculator shows which.
Optional next step
Optional next step
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Ask how a service-credit purchase fits your broader retirement income plan. Confirm your TRA benefits and purchase terms directly with TRA. A match is an introduction, not a recommendation from Clear Money Guide.
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Source: WiserAdvisor’s service descriptionVesting
“You are eligible, or “vested,” to receive a lifetime monthly retirement benefit after you have earned three years of service credit.” Vested members can retire early at 55 (reduced) or at normal retirement age 65 (unreduced).
DROP
No DROP program appears in TRA’s materials. TRA offers a deferred annuity option for vested members who leave service, which delays commencement of an already-earned benefit: a different mechanism than a DROP, which lets a member keep working while a separate account accrues.
DROP is rarer than it appears across the systems on this site: most have none.
What could not be verified
REFUND TERMS: this page does not state what happens to your contributions if you take a refund instead of leaving your account with the system: that comparison was not independently researched for this system this session, and is left as an open gap rather than guessed from another system’s rule. Consult your own plan’s refund/forfeiture terms before deciding. Any additional field marked “not stated” in the verdicts table above was genuinely absent from the official materials read, not omitted for space.
Sources
- TRA pension basics
- TRA leave-of-absence purchases
- TRA postretirement increases
- TRA 2025 legislative changes
Read September 3, 2026.
Related public pension systems: Missouri PSRS · Missouri MOSERS.
General information drawn from each system’s own official published materials, not legal, tax or financial advice. Vesting, COLA and buyback rules are set by state statute and plan tier, differ materially by hire date, and can change by future legislation. This page cannot see your own member statement, which governs. We are not a law firm, a tax adviser, or a fiduciary, and this is not personalized advice.
Comparing plans across states or systems? Connecticut SERS: COLA, Vesting, Buyback and DROP answers the same COLA, vesting and buyback questions for that pension.
Comparing plans across states or systems? Kentucky KTRS: COLA, Vesting, Buyback and DROP answers the same COLA, vesting and buyback questions for that pension.
Comparing plans across states or systems? New Jersey PERS: COLA, Vesting, Buyback and DROP answers the same COLA, vesting and buyback questions for that pension.
Comparing plans across states or systems? New Mexico ERB: COLA, Vesting, Buyback and DROP answers the same COLA, vesting and buyback questions for that pension.
Comparing plans across states or systems? New Mexico PERA: COLA, Vesting, Buyback and DROP answers the same COLA, vesting and buyback questions for that pension.
Comparing plans across states or systems? North Carolina TSERS: COLA, Vesting, Buyback and DROP answers the same COLA, vesting and buyback questions for that pension.
Comparing plans across states or systems? Oklahoma OPERS: COLA, Vesting, Buyback and DROP answers the same COLA, vesting and buyback questions for that pension.
Comparing plans across states or systems? Oregon PERS: COLA, Vesting, Buyback and DROP answers the same COLA, vesting and buyback questions for that pension.
Comparing plans across states or systems? South Carolina SCRS: COLA, Vesting, Buyback and DROP answers the same COLA, vesting and buyback questions for that pension.
Comparing plans across states or systems? Tennessee TCRS: COLA, Vesting, Buyback and DROP answers the same COLA, vesting and buyback questions for that pension.