Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: Minnesota law sets the Teachers Retirement Association (TRA) postretirement increase each January 1: 1.3% for 2026, 1.4% for 2027 and 1.5% for 2028 and after. A recipient paid at least 12 full months as of June 30 gets the full rate, and one paid one to 11 full months gets a prorated amount. Members who retire on or after July 1, 2024 get their first increase on the January 1 after they reach normal retirement age; TRA says this delay does not apply to disability or survivor benefit recipients. The January 2027 increase is fixed by statute.
More on public pension retirement ages and eligibility: the Minnesota TRA retirement age and eligibility rules.
The schedule in the statute
Minnesota Statutes 356.415, subdivision 1d, says, except as set forth in paragraph (d) on new retirees below: “recipients of a retirement annuity, disability benefit, or survivor benefit from the Teachers Retirement Association are entitled to an annual postretirement adjustment, effective as of each January 1”. The 2027 rate: “from January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2027 1.4 percent”. Then: “from January 1, 2028, and thereafter 1.5 percent”.
The TRA page
The TRA postretirement increases page lists: “Postretirement increase rates January 1, 2026: 1.3% January 1, 2027: 1.4% January 1, 2028, and thereafter: 1.5%”.
Full and prorated increases
The TRA page says: “Eligible benefit recipients who received an annuity for at least 12 full months as of June 30 of the calendar year before the January 1 increase receive a full increase.” “Eligible benefit recipients who received an annuity for at least one full month, but less than 12 months, as of June 30 of the calendar year before the January 1 increase will receive a prorated increase.”
New retirees
The TRA page says: “Beginning June 30, 2025, new TRA retirees will not receive a postretirement increase until January 1 of the year following the one in which they reach normal retirement age.” The statute words the cutoff as members who retire on or after July 1, 2024, while the TRA page words it as beginning June 30, 2025; this page does not reconcile the two dates.
Declining the increase
The statute says: “An increase in annuity or benefit payments under this section must be made automatically unless written notice is filed by the annuitant or benefit recipient with the executive director of the Teachers Retirement Association requesting that the increase not be made.”
What the documents do not say
The TRA annual report and board minutes were not read, because the statute and the TRA page were enough for a fixed schedule. Normal retirement age of 65 comes from the TRA page; the statute’s own definition was not separately read. The prorated-increase wording on the TRA page and in the statute differs slightly.
Where 2027 stands
The statute sets the January 1, 2027 TRA increase at 1.4%, subject to the proration and new-retiree rules above.
Common mistakes
- Expecting an index-linked COLA. The schedule is fixed by the Legislature.
- Expecting the full rate in the first year. A recipient paid fewer than 12 full months gets a prorated increase.
- Applying this page to PERA or MSRS, which have their own pages.
Related: Minnesota TRA retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Minnesota taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Office of the Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota, Minnesota Statutes 356.415 Postretirement adjustments: www.revisor.mn.gov
- Minnesota Teachers Retirement Association, Postretirement increases: minnesotatra.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.