Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: A Georgia Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund (POAB Fund) pension is paid monthly: a base rate for each year and month of creditable service, up to 30 years. The Fund’s web page puts the base rate at $30.45, while its pamphlet still shows $30.00, so the current figure should be confirmed. A married member may choose a 100% or a 50% joint life annuity, paid at a reduced amount to provide for the spouse. Before retirement a member may take a 100% refund of dues, with no interest. Retirement must be requested within 90 days of eligibility.
What this page covers and what it does not
This page works from the Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia (the POAB Fund) website pages on the retirement benefit, retirement options, vesting, dues refunds and death or divorce of a spouse, its Summary Plan Document pamphlet, its financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, and a May 14, 2026 news release on the cost-of-living adjustment. All were read on October 30, 2026. The web pages and the pamphlet carry no edition date, and they do not agree on every point, so the disagreements have their own section below.
The pages read do not include one member handbook; the rules are spread across these shorter documents. For scale, the audit’s participation table reports “Active plan members 16,436” as of June 30, 2025, which is that audit’s count on that date and not a current figure. Disability benefits, eligible positions, dues payment rules and reinstatement are outside this page. The general questions are collected at public pension retirement decisions by system.
How the monthly pension is figured
The Fund pays a pension by the month. The pamphlet says: “The Fund provides monthly benefits to all members who meet retirement eligibility.” The retirement benefit page gives the formula: “The base rate pension amount (Single Life Option) is calculated by multiplying the years and months of creditable service by the Base Rate Amount.” The audit describes the result as “The monthly benefit is a single life annuity payable in monthly payments for the life of the member only”, with the amount for a partial year at 1/12 of the yearly amount for each month and a cap of 30 years of total service. As the pages describe it, pay level does not enter the formula; only service does.
| Document | Base rate for each year of service | Examples and limits printed there |
|---|---|---|
| Retirement benefit web page | $30.45 | 10 years: $304.50 a month. 18 1/2 years: $563.33 a month. 30 years: $913.50 a month (Maximum) |
| Summary Plan Document pamphlet | $30.00 | 15 years: $450.00 a month. 20 years: $600.00 a month. 30 years: $900.00 a month |
| Audit, amount at June 30, 2025 | $30 | Per month for each full year of creditable service, plus 1/12 of this amount for each month of a partial year, up to 30 years of total service |
A computed example from an assumed 25 years and 6 months of creditable service, not a POAB Fund figure: 25 years plus 6/12 of a year is 25.5 years. At the web page’s $30.45 base rate, 25.5 years comes to a computed $776.48 a month under the Single Life Option. At the pamphlet’s $30.00 base rate the same service comes to a computed $765.00 a month. The web page’s own example follows the same arithmetic: “18 1/2 years X $30.45 = $563.33 per month”. Only the base rate separates the two results, which is why the section on disagreements matters before any estimate is relied on.
The election: single life, 100% joint or 50% joint
The election is a decision about a spouse. The retirement benefit page says: “At retirement, a member can choose to designate survivor benefits to a spouse.” It adds: “The Retirement Options are determined by the member’s age and spouse’s age at the member’s retirement with the POAB Fund.” The choice is therefore made once, at retirement, using both ages. The table sets the three options side by side.
| Option | What the member receives | What a survivor receives |
|---|---|---|
| Option 1, Single Life | The full base rate amount: years and months of creditable service times the base rate | No continuing payment to a surviving spouse; the named beneficiary is entitled only to the death payment |
| Option 2, 100% Joint Life | A reduced benefit, actuarially equal to Option 1, calculated from the ages of the member and the spouse | An equal amount upon eligibility |
| Option 3, 50% Joint Life | A reduced benefit, actuarially equal to Option 1, calculated from the ages of the member and the spouse | Half of the member’s amount upon eligibility |
For Option 1 the options page says “Under this Option, there is no provision for continuing payment to a surviving spouse”. For the joint choices it says “Under 100% Joint Life, the member chooses to receive a reduced benefit to provide for their spouse”, and for the full version, “The surviving spouse will receive an equal amount upon eligibility”. Under the half version, “Upon eligibility, the spouse will receive half of the member’s amount”. On how the reduction is set, the page says: “Options 2, and 3 are actuarially equal to Option 1.” “The Fund uses the ages of both the member and their spouse for this calculation.” The audit adds that “The amount of the benefit for these options is an actuarially reduced portion of the single life annuity benefit described above”. No document read prints the size of the reduction, so the Fund’s own estimate for a specific member and spouse is the only way to see the numbers.
A computed example from an assumed $650 monthly amount after the reduction, not a POAB Fund figure: if a member’s reduced monthly amount under Option 3 were $650, a surviving spouse would receive half of it, a computed $325 a month. Under Option 2 the same reduced amount would continue unchanged, because the Fund says the survivor receives an equal amount. The harder comparison is between that reduced amount and what Option 1 would have paid, since Option 1 pays more while the member lives and nothing to a spouse afterward. That trade-off is the subject of single-life versus joint-and-survivor pension, and survivor rules in other government systems are at survivor benefit with a government pension.
What is irrevocable, and the deadlines
Service credit stops growing at retirement. The retirement benefit page says “once your retirement is approved by the Board, your service credit is locked in”, and that “you cannot return to active status with the Fund to increase your monthly benefit”.
The application window is short. The page says: “Members must apply within 90 days from the date of eligibility to avoid losing retirement benefits.” On the consequence it says that “After 90 days, the Fund will not provide retroactive retirement benefits”, with one exception: “Members who are unable to apply within 90 days because of extenuating circumstances will need to request retroactive benefits by writing to the Board of Commissioners”.
The election has one documented escape. The death or divorce page says: “Members under 100% or 50% Joint Life may revert to the Single Life Annuity option in the event of death or divorce.” “They will have 1 year from the date of event to submit the required paperwork to the POAB Fund office.” The reverse step is also described: “Members who meet Pop Up eligibility and remarry may choose to provide a spousal benefit to the current spouse.” Beyond death and divorce, the pages read do not describe any way to change a joint life election after retirement, so the choice should be treated as fixed unless the Fund confirms otherwise.
Working after retirement
The retirement benefit page says: “Effective 7-1-2024 Retirees may draw their pension without restriction while working in law enforcement.” The audit says: “A member that has retired and began drawing benefits may not return to work and receive additional service credit.” A retiree working in law enforcement therefore collects the pension but does not add service credit.
Lump sums: what the documents describe
The documents read describe the pension as a monthly benefit and do not describe a lump sum retirement option, a partial lump sum or a deferred retirement option plan (DROP). Lump sums appear elsewhere: a refund of dues for a member who leaves, a single payment for purchased service, and a payment to a beneficiary after a member dies.
On the death payment, the audit says that “the designated beneficiary of a deceased, active, vested, or retired member is entitled to a lump sum of $5,000”, and that “If an active member dies in the line of duty and has a designated beneficiary, that beneficiary is eligible to receive a lump sum benefit of $10,000”. It is a payment to a beneficiary, not a choice a member makes at retirement. The general question of a lump sum against a monthly check, for systems that offer both, is worked through at pension lump sum versus monthly annuity break-even; on this Fund’s documents there is no lump sum retirement option to compare.
Vesting and when a pension can start
Vesting depends on when the member joined. The vesting page splits the rule by join date: “Joined on or before June 30, 2010” is followed by “vested after a minimum of 10 years”, and “Joined on or after July 1, 2010” by “vested after a minimum of 15 years”. It adds: “Members must be vested with POAB and at least 55 years old.” A separate route covers long careers: the page lists “Members who have 30 years of creditable service with POAB”.
The audit matches that split: “A member is also eligible to receive retirement benefits at age 55 with 10 years of service; however, members joining on or after July 1, 2010, must have 15 years of service to be eligible for benefits.”
Leaving before retirement: refund or leave the pension
The refund page says: “Before retirement, a member may withdraw their membership and request to receive a 100% refund of all dues paid into the Fund.” The audit adds the timing: “At any time before a member begins drawing retirement benefits, the member may request a refund of 100% of all member contributions paid into the Fund during creditable service.” On interest it says: “No interest is paid on these withdrawals.” The refund page adds: “Any interest or penalties paid are not refundable.”
A refund is a one way step for the service it covers. The refund page says that if a member decides to rejoin, “any service credit accrued during the previous stint of active membership is forfeited, though up to five years of previous service may be claimed as a Buyback”. The credit starts over, apart from the buyback of up to five years. The audit’s participation table lists “Terminated members not yet receiving benefits, vested” as a category, so the Fund carries vested former members who have not started a pension. Taking contributions out against waiting for a pension is the question at pension refund versus leaving it. Here the refund returns dues without interest, and no document read projects the pension for a specific person.
Buying service credit
The pamphlet describes the purchase of time served before joining: “Members may buy back up to 5 years of prior service (min. of 6 months).” On cost: “Buybacks are calculated at full actuarial cost by Fund staff.” On payment: “Single lump sum payment is due by the predetermined due date with required paperwork.” On effect: “Buyback service contributes towards vesting and does not need to be matched.” It adds a date rule: “Buybacks purchased before July 1, 2024, maintain the rules and requirements set in place at the time of purchase.”
Because a purchase is priced at full actuarial cost, the price depends on the member’s age and service and is not printed in the documents read. The pension buyback calculator is the place to test whether a given price is worth paying.
Cost-of-living adjustments and the base rate
The Fund’s May 14, 2026 news release says its board “approved a 1.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)” and describes it as “the maximum increase permitted under current law”. It states: “The adjustment will take effect July 1, 2026, and will apply to both current and future retirees”. It adds that “the benefit multiplier will rise from $30.00 to $30.45”. The audit’s subsequent events note says “the benefit multiplier increased from $30.00 to $30.45 per year of service”.
For the future, the audit says: “The Board of Commissioners is authorized to provide for increases effective as of January 1 and July 1 of each year up to 1.5% of the maximum monthly retirement benefit then in effect.” Whether any further increase will be made is not stated in the documents read.
What the IRS adds on tax
A refund or lump sum from a public pension is a distribution, so the IRS rules apply on top of the POAB Fund’s own. On withholding, the IRS says that a taxable eligible rollover distribution paid to you “is subject to mandatory income tax withholding (generally at a rate of 20%), even if you intend to roll it over later”, and that if you roll it over yourself “you’ll have to add funds from other sources equal to the amount withheld”. The POAB pages read do not say how a refund of dues is paid or whether it can be rolled over, so a member should confirm that with the Fund before requesting one; the general withholding rule is at 20% withholding on a pension lump sum. The rollover clock, if the money is paid to you: “you have 60 days from the date you receive it to roll it over to another eligible retirement plan”.
On early distributions the IRS says “the law imposes a 10% additional tax on certain early distributions from certain retirement plans”. Its list of exceptions includes “Distributions made to you after you separated from service with your employer after attainment of age 55” and “Distributions made to a qualified public safety employee from a governmental plan”. Whether an exception fits a particular refund depends on your own plan and facts, so confirm it with a tax preparer before you take one.
Where the sources disagree
The base rate. The pamphlet says: “As of July 1, 2021, the base rate for each year of creditable service is $30.00.” The retirement benefit page says: “As of July 1, 2021, the base rate for each year of creditable service is $30.45.” Yet the news release says “the benefit multiplier will rise from $30.00 to $30.45”, effective July 1, 2026, and the audit says the monthly amount at June 30, 2025 was “$30 per month”. Read together, the audit and the news release point to $30.45 as the rate that began on July 1, 2026, which leaves the retirement benefit page’s July 1, 2021 date unexplained. The Fund should confirm which rate applies to a pension starting now.
The 20 year threshold for options. The pamphlet says: “Retirement options are only available after 20 years of creditable service with the Fund.” The retirement options page, as read, states no such threshold, and neither does the audit’s description of the options. A member with fewer than 20 years of service who is considering a joint life election should ask the Fund whether the condition applies.
The vesting rule. The pamphlet says: “A POAB member is vested after 15 years of creditable service.” The vesting page and the audit both split the rule by join date, with ten years for members who joined on or before June 30, 2010 and fifteen years for later joiners. A member who joined before July 1, 2010 should confirm the vesting date with the Fund.
What this page could not settle
- The pages read do not state the reduction for Option 2 or Option 3, only that the amount is actuarially equal to Option 1 and uses both ages.
- The pages read do not describe a lump sum retirement option, a partial lump sum or a DROP.
- The pages read do not say how a refund of dues is paid, whether it can be rolled over, or whether tax is withheld from it, and they do not describe a spousal consent requirement.
- The pamphlet’s 20 year condition on retirement options is neither confirmed nor denied by the web pages read, and the pamphlet and the web pages are undated.
- Senate Bill 285 was read only as the audit and the news release describe it, not in its own text.
- The Fund’s FY2026 annual report was an image only scan with no readable text and was not used.
- Disability benefits, eligible positions, dues rules, reinstatement and the tax treatment of the pension itself were not examined in depth.
Common mistakes
- Using the pamphlet’s $30.00 examples as the current rate without checking the Fund’s $30.45 figure.
- Assuming the joint life choice can be changed after retirement; the pages read describe a return to single life only on a spouse’s death or divorce, within one year.
- Waiting past the 90 day window after becoming eligible; the Fund says it will not provide retroactive retirement benefits after 90 days, except by a written request to the board for extenuating circumstances.
- Taking a refund and expecting to keep the service; the Fund says credit from the earlier membership is forfeited on rejoining, apart from a buyback of up to five years.
- Expecting interest on a refund of dues; the audit says none is paid.
Related on this site: pension refund versus leaving it, single-life versus joint-and-survivor pension, survivor benefit with a government pension, pension buyback calculator, 20% withholding on a pension lump sum and public pension retirement decisions by system.
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Answer againSources
- Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia, Retirement Benefit (web page, undated): https://poab.georgia.gov/benefits/retirement-benefit
- Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia, Retirement Options (web page, undated): https://poab.georgia.gov/benefits/pension-benefit/retirement-options
- Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia, Vesting Requirement (web page, undated): https://poab.georgia.gov/benefits/retirement-benefit/vesting-requirement
- Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia, Request a Refund of Dues (web page, undated): https://poab.georgia.gov/dues/request-refund
- Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia, Death or Divorce of Spouse (web page, undated): https://poab.georgia.gov/benefits/pension-benefit/retirement-options/death-or-divorce-spouse
- Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia, Summary Plan Document pamphlet (undated, shows the $30.00 base rate): https://poab.georgia.gov/document/publication/summary-plan-pamphlet
- Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia, Financial Statements for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2025 (independent audit report): https://poab.georgia.gov/document/2025-financial-statements/fye-2025-audit-report/download
- Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia, POAB Board Approves 1.5% COLA Increase (news release dated May 14, 2026): https://poab.georgia.gov/news/2026-05-14/poab-board-approves-15-cola-increase
- IRS, Topic no. 413, Rollovers from retirement plans (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc413
- IRS, Topic no. 558, Additional tax on early distributions from retirement plans other than IRAs (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc558
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 30, 2026. General information from each system’s own published materials, not legal, tax or financial advice. Your own member statement and the system’s current rules decide your benefit, and a pension counsellor at the system or a fee-only adviser is the right place to confirm anything consequential.