Washington Administrative Code
Title 415 - Retirement Systems, Department of
Chapter 415-113 - Portability of public employment benefits
CALCULATING YOUR DUAL MEMBER BENEFIT
Section 415-113-090 - What is the maximum retirement benefit that I may receive under chapter 41.54 RCW?

Example 18:

A multiple system retiree retires from TRS Plan 1 state employment with prior creditable PERS Plan 1 service. His PERS employer pays him an accrued sick leave cashout at termination. Because a sick leave cashout from a state agency employer is not includable as TRS earnable compensation, the department will not include the cashout in the retiree's average compensation for purposes of computing either his PERS Plan 1 or TRS Plan 1 maximum benefit.

Example 19:

A multiple system retiree retires from PERS Plan 1 local government employment and receives a sick leave cashout. Because a sick leave cashout from a local government employer may be included as earnable compensation, the department will include the sick leave cashout to compute the retiree's maximum benefits under both PERS Plan 1 and TRS Plan 1.

Example 20:

A person with twenty-nine years of prior service in TRS Plan 1 and one year of subsequent service in PERS Plan 2 retires from both systems at age sixty-five. The retiree's TRS Plan 1 average compensation is thirty thousand dollars. The TRS Plan 1 maximum benefit is sixty percent of average compensation. The retiree's maximum TRS benefit is eighteen thousand dollars or one thousand five hundred dollars per month. The retiree's PERS Plan 2 average compensation is twenty-eight thousand dollars. The retiree's maximum PERS 2 benefit is sixteen thousand eight hundred dollars or one thousand four hundred dollars per month. The retiree's maximum benefit is the higher of the two amounts, one thousand five hundred dollars per month.

Assume the retiree's accrued service is such that her actual TRS Plan 1 monthly benefit is one thousand four hundred fifty dollars and her PERS Plan 2 monthly benefit is one hundred dollars. The retiree's total multiple system benefit is the sum of her TRS Plan 1 and PERS Plan 2 benefits, or one thousand five hundred fifty dollars. Because the retiree's total multiple system benefit exceeds her maximum benefit by fifty dollars, the department would proportionately reduce her TRS Plan 1 and PERS Plan 2 benefits. Her TRS Plan 1 benefit is 29/30 of her total service or ninety-seven percent, and her PERS Plan 2 benefit is 1/30 of total service, or three percent. The department would reduce her TRS Plan 1 benefit by ninety-seven percent of the overage, or forty-eight dollars and fifty cents (50 x.97) and her PERS Plan 2 benefit by three percent of the overage, or one dollar and fifty cents (50 x.03).