Maximum Benefit Return Age

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When you retire, your LACERA allowance is based on four factors: your plan, years of service credit, age, and final average compensation.

In general, the higher your retirement age, the higher your final compensation percentage for calculating your retirement allowance. However, once you reach the maximum benefit return age, your age will no longer be a factor in the calculation. Here’s how that affects your benefit in a couple of scenarios.

If you are still working as an active LACERA member: Once you reach the maximum benefit return age for your plan, your age no longer increases the percentage used in calculating your allowance, but your years of service will. So if you continue to work, your retirement allowance still increases based on your years of service credit, final average compensation, and plan.

If you are no longer working as an active LACERA member: Once you reach the maximum benefit return age for your plan, postponing your retirement until you reach a higher age will not increase your benefit.

Here are the maximum benefit return ages for each LACERA plan:

  • General Plan A: 62
  • General Plans B, C, D, and E: 65
  • General Plan G: 67
  • Safety Plans A and B: 55
  • Safety Plan C: 57

Keep these ages in mind if you are eligible for retirement and any of the following apply:

  • You are still working
  • You are on deferred status (no longer working for the County but haven’t filed for retirement) OR
  • You are on deferred reciprocal status (terminated County service and became employed by a reciprocal agency)

If you have any questions about how the maximum benefit return age may affect you, or if you need any other assistance, contact us or log into your My LACERA account and send us a secure message.

LACERA Recommends: Calculate Your Benefit

Checking your projected benefit using different age and service scenarios will help you set goals and zero in on your best retirement date. Just log in to My LACERA and select Estimate from the blue navigation bar to use the Retirement Benefit Estimate calculator, which uses on your actual data on file.