In addition to your retirement plan and service credit, your Final Average Salary is an important factor in the calculation of your retirement benefit. Your FAS is the average of your 36 highest consecutive months of earnings in public employment. For most members, this is the last three years of employment.

Q: My district will pay me for unused sick time when I retire. Will that be figured into my Final Average Salary? What about my lump sum of vacation pay and stipends for my associate degree?

A: Payment for unused sick leave cannot be included in your FAS calculation. Some other payments excluded from your FAS are: any form of termination pay, payments made for time not worked or payments made in anticipation of retirement, including employer-sponsored incentives.

If your FAS is based on your last 36 months of employment and your date of membership in NYSLRS is before April 1, 1972, or after July 26, 1976, up to 30 days of vacation pay can be used to calculate the FAS.

With respect to receiving a stipend for attaining your associate degree, as long as your employer offers this kind of education payment to all eligible employees, we can include it in your FAS calculation.

There are several other ways to increase your FAS prior to retirement. Some include payments for overtime, if worked during the period of time used to determine your FAS, holiday pay and longevity bonuses (maximum of three), if paid for years used to calculate your FAS.

Depending on your tier and date of membership, your FAS might be subject to limitations. For Tier 3 and 4 members, earnings in any year included in the FAS cannot exceed the average of the previous two years by more than 10 percent. Any amount in excess of this will be excluded.

For Tier 2 members, earnings in any year cannot exceed the average of the previous two years by more than 20 percent.

For Tier 1 members with a membership date of June 17, 1971, or later, the wages in any 12-month period cannot exceed the earnings in the previous 12-month period by more than 20 percent.

Q: How can I get more information?

A: You can find more about FAS on our Web site at www.osc.state.ny.us/retire/members/final_average_salary.htm or contact our Call Center toll-free at (866) 805-0990 or (518) 474-7736 in the Capital Region.