Estimate a Future Benefit

The Benefit Estimate screen allows you to estimate the benefit you will be eligible to receive upon retirement or disability, or the benefit your beneficiary receives in the event of death.

Benefit estimates can be calculated based on projected dates of separation in addition to type of retirement. Benefit estimates are generated into .pdf files and can be viewed, saved, or printed. The Benefit estimates you generate using this tool are also accessible by the retirement office personnel so that you can later discuss the estimates with them.

To access the Benefit Estimator, click on the Estimate a Benefit option in the menu. The Benefit Estimate screen opens.

Enter the following information:

Benefit Options

• Type - Select the kind of benefit you want estimated from the list by clicking the down arrow and clicking on your choice.
• Disability Type - This only appears if you chose Disability Retirement as your Type. Select the kind of disability from the list by clicking the down arrow and selecting your choice.
• Separation - Enter the date when you expect to leave your job. You can type the date in manually using a month/day/year format or you can click on the calendar icon to the right of the field and use the calendar feature to select a date.
• Payments Begin - Enter the date when you want to have your benefit payments begin. You can type the date in manually using a month/day/year format or you can click on the calendar icon to the right of the field and use the calendar feature to select a date.
• BackDROP - This only appears if you chose Retirement as your Type and is only displayed if your plan offers a BackDROP retirement option. Optionally, you can select this box to estimate a BackDROP benefit. Once this box is selected, enter the number of BackDROP Months. The BackDROP date is automatically determined.
• Enter On - This only appears if you chose DROP as your Type. This option is only available if your plan provides a Deferred Retirement Option Plan. Enter the date when you want to have your DROP payments begin. You can type the date in manually using a month/day/year format or you can click on the calendar icon to the right of the field and use the calendar feature to select a date.
• DROP Plan - This only appears if you chose DROP as your Type. Select your DROP plan.

Beneficiary (the fields in the Beneficiary section are optional)

• Name - Enter the name of one person designated as your beneficiary. If you have a primary beneficiary on file with your retirement fund, the beneficiary information for the primary beneficiary (Name, Relationship, Date of Birth) is already displayed but can be changed. Note that entering a beneficiary is only for estimate purposes and does not actually make that person a beneficiary to your benefits. You must contact your pension fund to add a beneficiary.
• Relationship - Select your beneficiary's association with you (spouse, child, friend, etc.)
• Date of Birth - Enter the birth date of your nominated beneficiary. You can type the date in manually using a month/day/year format or you can click on the calendar icon to the right of the field and use the calendar feature to select a date.

After you have completed entering the requested information, click the Generate button. If there are any errors, they will be displayed and you can make the necessary corrections to your entered information. If the request to generate the estimate is successful, the My Estimates section appears with a new card displayed containing information on the benefit estimate. If you have previous Benefit Estimates, cards for those estimates may be displayed here as well.

To view a Benefit Estimate, click on the card. A message appears asking if you would like to have your detailed salary information included in your estimate. After selecting Yes or No, you are prompted to either save the file or open it. If you open it, a .pdf file will open in a separate window. You can view its contents and even print it.

Go Back to the Main Help Menu