A useful pension comparison begins with the actual plan documents and offer. This calculator keeps formula adjustments, dated payments and invested capital separate so you can see which assumptions drive the result.
Start with the actual plan formula
Enter credited service, pensionable salary, the multiplier or flat amount, and the vesting terms from your own documents. The salary-history tool averages the last entered annual salaries in the selected window; it does not identify the highest eligible years or decide which compensation counts. The service cap limits the formula, while vesting service is checked separately. Review the accrued amount, vested amount, early-retirement reduction, pension offset and survivor election reduction as separate lines. This makes a zero payable benefit distinguishable from a blank input or an unvested accrued amount. The retirement-date comparison holds entered service and salary fixed, so changing age changes the early-retirement adjustment without inventing additional employment or future raises. If you expect another year of service or a different salary average, enter those values as a separate scenario. Numeric templates illustrate controls and calculations; they do not verify a named employer plan, membership tier, retirement eligibility or legal entitlement.
Keep pension receipts and invested capital on the same basis
The comparison uses payments at the end of each monthly period and matching withdrawals from the lump sum over the same household horizon. Calendar dates follow the entered first payment day and clamp in short months. The investment assumption is an annual effective return before the entered annual investment fee. Interest and fees change invested capital; they do not increase stated pension payments. Pension amounts instead follow the entered COLA and survivor terms. An entered plan offer remains distinct from a modeled present value, which discounts the selected gross payments without mortality weighting. The annual-benefit multiple remains a separately labeled heuristic. A depletion month shows when capital can no longer fund the matching withdrawals under these assumptions, rather than identifying an election that is universally superior. For an after-tax comparison, the same entered effective percentage applies to both receipts; account basis, exemptions, rollover treatment and a complete household tax return are outside this model. Verify those details before acting on a quote.
Inspect bridge years, survivor horizons and limits
Income sources begin at their entered ages, so a Social Security amount does not appear in earlier bridge years. Enter worker and spouse payment horizons to inspect deterministic continuation rather than assuming a personal survival probability. The savings model withdraws a fixed amount based on the initial savings balance and entered annual rate, assumes zero savings return, and stops when the balance is exhausted. Spending grows from the first timeline payment. Any remaining spending gap stays visible and does not automatically become a funded withdrawal or loan. The income ledger is gross, while the separate rough federal-tax snapshot retains a limited 2026 single-filer model. Actual benefit rights and protections depend on the plan and applicable rules; the linked government guidance does not establish coverage or eligibility for your employer. Export the payment ledger and assumptions for review with the plan administrator or a qualified adviser. Save on this device and financial links are optional, and older saved amounts should be checked against their original records before reuse.