Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: In the Washington Teachers’ Retirement System Plan 2, full retirement is at age 65 with 5 or more years of service, and five years makes a member vested. In Plan 3, the pension vests at 10 service credit years, or 5 years with at least 12 months earned after age 44, or 5 years earned in TRS Plan 2 before July 1, 1996, and full retirement is also at 65. Early retirement starts at 55 with at least 20 years of service in Plan 2, or 10 years in Plan 3, and the benefit is reduced.
TRS Plan 2: full retirement and vesting
“You need 5 or more years of service to qualify for a retirement with TRS Plan 2. Full retirement age is 65.” “With TRS Plan 2, you need five years of service to qualify for a retirement.”
TRS Plan 2: retiring early
“If you retire before age 65, it’s considered an early retirement. If you have at least 20 years of service credit and are 55 or older, you can choose to retire early, but your benefit will be reduced.” It adds that there is less of a reduction, in some cases none, with 30 or more years of service credit. “If you were hired on or after May 1, 2013 and retire early (age 55-64) with 30 years of service credit, your benefit will be reduced by 5% for each year (prorated monthly) before you turn age 65.” “If you retire early with 20-30 years of service credit, your monthly benefit is reduced by a factor that is based on your average life expectancy.”
Retiring at 62 with 30 years
The Plan 2 page, in its early retirement part for members who joined before May 1, 2013, says: “If you have 30 or more years of service and you are age 62, you can retire with a full benefit under the 2008 ERF.” For hires on or after May 1, 2013, the same page’s table and worked example show age 62 with 30 years at 85 percent of the full benefit, a 15 percent reduction.
TRS Plan 3
“You are eligible for a pension retirement when you are vested, which happens when you have achieved one of the following: 10 service credit years Five years of service credit with at least 12 months earned after age 44”. The same page lists a third route: five years of service credit earned in TRS Plan 2 before July 1, 1996. Joined before May 1, 2013: “For TRS Plan 3, this is when you reach age 65. If you have 30 or more years of service and you are age 62, you can also retire with a full benefit.” Members who joined on or after May 1, 2013 are reduced 15 percent at age 62 with 30 years, as the Plan 2 table shows. “If you retire before age 65, it’s considered an early retirement. If you have at least 10 years of service credit and are 55 or older, you can choose to retire early, but your benefit will be reduced.”
What the pension is based on
Plan 2: “2% x service credit years x Average Final Compensation = monthly benefit”. Plan 3: “1% x service credit years x Average Final Compensation = monthly benefit”. Average pay: “The Average Final Compensation, or AFC is the average of your 60 consecutive highest earning months in your career.”
A worked example with invented numbers
Take an invented member with 25 years of service credit in TRS Plan 2, retiring at 65. That is 25 years at 2%, or 50% (computed) of a final average salary of $70,000 (invented, for the computation), which comes to $35,000 a year (computed).
Now take the same member with 25 years of service credit in TRS Plan 3, retiring at 65. That is 25 years at 1%, or 25% (computed) of a final average salary of $70,000 (invented, for the computation), which comes to $17,500 a year (computed).
What the documents do not say
The Plan 2 page states the age 62 with 30 years full benefit under the 2008 early retirement factors and prints a 5% a year cut before 65 for hires on or after May 1, 2013, but for hires on or after May 1, 2013 the same page’s table and example show age 62 with 30 years at 85 percent, a 15 percent reduction. The early retirement factors for 20 to 30 years of service are in tables that change at least every six years, so they are not copied. TRS Plan 1, PERS Plan 3 and the Plan 3 investment account are not covered, and the statute text was not read.
Common mistakes
- Using the Plan 2 vesting rule for Plan 3. The Plan 3 pension vests at 10 service credit years, or 5 years with 12 months earned after age 44, or 5 years earned in TRS Plan 2 before July 1, 1996.
- Expecting a full benefit at 55. Anything before 65 is an early retirement with a reduced benefit, except that members who joined before May 1, 2013 with 30 years can retire unreduced at 62.
- Applying the 5% a year cut to every hire. The page ties it to members hired on or after May 1, 2013 who retire at 55 to 64 with 30 years.
Related: Washington DRS retirement decisions, the Washington DRS COLA for 2027, how public pension decisions work, and whether Washington taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Washington State Department of Retirement Systems, TRS Plan 2: www.drs.wa.gov
- Washington State Department of Retirement Systems, TRS Plan 3: www.drs.wa.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.