Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: In the Virginia Retirement System Hybrid plan (membership date on or after January 1, 2014) and Plan 2 (membership date July 1, 2010 to December 31, 2013, plus earlier members who were not vested before January 1, 2013), an unreduced benefit starts at your normal Social Security retirement age with at least five years of service credit, or when your age and service equal 90 (the Rule of 90). You may retire with a reduced benefit as early as age 60 with at least five years of service credit. In the Hybrid plan, vesting takes five years (60 months) of service credit.
Hybrid plan eligibility
“You are eligible for the VRS Hybrid Retirement Plan if your membership date is on or after January 1, 2014”. The Hybrid handbook sets the unreduced rule: “when you reach your normal Social Security retirement age and have at least five years of service credit or when your age and service equal 90 (Rule of 90) and you have at least five years of service credit.”
Hybrid early retirement
“You may retire with a reduced benefit as early as age 60 if you have at least five years of service credit.” “To determine your reduced benefit, VRS applies an early retirement reduction factor to your unreduced basic benefit.”
Hybrid vesting
“You become vested in the defined benefit component of your plan when you have at least five years (60 months) of service credit.”
Plan 2 eligibility
“You are covered under Plan 2 if your membership date is from July 1, 2010, to December 31, 2013, and you have not taken a refund.” “Additionally, you are covered under Plan 2 if you have a membership date prior to July 1, 2010, but you were not vested before January 1, 2013.” “You become eligible for an unreduced benefit when you reach your normal Social Security retirement age and have at least five years of service credit or when your age and service credit equal 90.” “You may retire with a reduced benefit as early as age 60 with at least five years of service credit.”
What the pension is based on
Hybrid: “Under the VRS Hybrid Retirement Plan, the retirement multiplier is 1%.” “Average final compensation is the average of your 60 consecutive months of highest creditable compensation as a covered employee”. Plan 2: “Under VRS Plan 2, the retirement multiplier for service retirement is 1.65% on service credit earned, purchased or granted on or after January 1, 2013, and 1.7% on service credit earned, purchased or granted before January 1, 2013.”
A worked example with invented numbers
Take an invented Plan 2 member with 30 years of service credit, all earned on or after January 1, 2013. That is 30 years at 1.65%, or 49.5% (computed) of a final average salary of $60,000 (invented, for the computation), which comes to $29,700 a year (computed).
Now take an invented Hybrid member with 30 years of service credit, counting only the defined benefit component. That is 30 years at 1%, or 30% (computed) of a final average salary of $60,000 (invented, for the computation), which comes to $18,000 a year (computed).
What the documents do not say
Both handbooks say VRS applies an early retirement reduction factor but neither prints the factor, so this page gives no percentage for retiring at 60. The handbooks also do not print the normal Social Security retirement age as a number. Plan 1, the hazardous-duty plans and the Judicial Retirement System are not covered, and the Hybrid defined contribution component is not part of this page.
Common mistakes
- Reading 90 as an age. It is age plus years of service, with at least five years of service credit.
- Assuming one fixed number for the normal Social Security retirement age. The handbooks tie the rule to that age and do not print a number.
- Applying this page to Plan 1 or the hazardous-duty plans. It covers the Hybrid plan and Plan 2 only.
Related: Virginia VRS retirement decisions, the Virginia VRS COLA for 2027, how public pension decisions work, and whether Virginia taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Virginia Retirement System, Hybrid Retirement Plan Handbook for Members: www.varetire.org
- Virginia Retirement System, Virginia Retirement System Plan 2 Handbook for Members: www.varetire.org
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 410, Pensions and annuities: www.irs.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 411, Pensions: the General Rule and the Simplified Method: www.irs.gov
Read from the primary documents linked above on October 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the IRS itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.