Retirement Plan booklet - sdcera

17
Calculating
your retirement benefit (continued)
Final compensation calculation examples
Keep in mind that your
SDCERA benefit will begin
when you retire from the
County of San Diego and
your Social Security benefit
(if eligible) may not be available
until a later date. For
example, you may be eligible
and choose to collect your
SDCERA retirement benefit
at an earlier age than you
will be eligible to collect a
Social Security benefit.
example 1
26 consecutive pay periods of a member’s gross biweekly pay = $36,000
Bilingual pay in 26 pay periods = $1,040
Quality First payments in six pay periods = $1,140
Total compensation eligible for retirement = $38,180
Final average monthly compensation ($38,180÷12) = $3,182
example 2
26 consecutive pay periods of a member’s gross biweekly pay = $55,000
Uniform allowance in 26 pay periods = $725
Total compensation eligible for retirement = $55,725
Final average monthly compensation ($55,725÷12) = $4,644
example 3
26 consecutive pay periods of a member’s gross biweekly pay = $60,000
Quality First payments in six pay periods = $2,400
Total compensation eligible for retirement = $62,400
Final average monthly compensation ($62,400 ÷12) = $5,200
Social Security integration with your SDCERA benefit
General members (and their employer) contribute to both SDCERA and to
Social Security because the SDCERA retirement benefit is integrated with
Social Security. Therefore, general members can expect to receive benefits
at retirement from both SDCERA (based on years of employment with
the County of San Diego) and from Social Security (based on years of all
employment covered by Social Security).
Due to this integration, when SDCERA calculates a General member’s
retirement benefit, an adjustment is made because General members
pay reduced contributions on the first $350 of monthly earnings. The
integration adjustment varies from approximately $2.30 per year worked
(for retirement at age 50) up to about $3.50 per year worked for retirement