Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: New Jersey TPAF Tier 5 members, who were eligible to enroll on or after June 28, 2011, reach normal retirement age at 65. Tier 5 members with 30 years or more of pension membership service credit can retire before 65, with the allowance reduced 1/4 of one percent for each month (three percent per year) under age 65. Normal retirement age is 60 for Tiers 1 and 2 and 62 for Tiers 3 and 4. A member is vested after 10 years of service credit.
Which tier you are in
For Tier 5, the guidebook says: “Members eligible to enroll on or after June 28, 2011”.
Normal retirement age
“For Tier 1 and Tier 2 members, normal retirement age is 60. For Tier 3 and Tier 4 members it is age 62. For Tier 5 members it is age 65.” “Available to Tier 1 and Tier 2 members upon reaching age 60 or older; or to Tier 3 and Tier 4 members upon reaching age 62 or older, or to Tier 5 members upon reaching age 65 or older.”
Vesting
“You are vested in the TPAF after you have attained 10 years of service credit.”
Retiring before the normal age
“Available to members who have 25 years or more of pension service credit before reaching age 60 for Tier 1 and Tier 2 members, or before age 62 for Tier 3 and Tier 4 members”. For Tier 5: “and with 30 years or more of pension membership service credit before age 65 for Tier 5 members.” For Tier 5 members who retire before age 65 with at least 30 years of service, the allowance is reduced “1/4 of one percent for each month (three percent per year) under age 65”. The guidebook says a Tier 3 or Tier 4 member who retires before 62 is also reduced, and that the allowance is permanently reduced if you retire before the ages set by your tier.
Final average salary
For Tier 4 and Tier 5 members, final average salary is “the average salary for the 60 months (50 months for employees with 10-month contracts)”. “If your last five years are not your highest years of salary, your allowance will be calculated using your five highest fiscal years (July-June) of salary.”
What the documents do not say
The Tier 4 and Tier 5 benefit formula is printed as an image in the guidebook and could not be read as text, so this page gives no multiplier and no worked example. The guidebook does not print an age-plus-service rule for Tiers 1 through 5. Veteran, disability and deferred retirement are not covered. The guidebook is the only source read.
Common mistakes
- Using age 60 or 62 for a Tier 5 member. Those are the normal retirement ages of Tiers 1 and 2 and of Tiers 3 and 4.
- Retiring early without the years. For Tier 5 the early route needs 30 years or more of pension membership service credit.
- Ignoring the permanent reduction. The guidebook says the allowance is permanently reduced if you retire before the ages set by your tier.
Related: New Jersey TPAF retirement decisions, the New Jersey TPAF COLA for 2027, how public pension decisions work, and whether New Jersey taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- NJ Division of Pensions and Benefits, Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) Member Guidebook: www.nj.gov
- 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.