New Jersey Veterans Retirement in the Public Employees' Retirement System

N.J.S.A. 43:15A-61 gives a "public employee veteran member" of the Public Employees' Retirement System the privilege of retiring either at 60 with 20 years of aggregate service or at 55 with 25 years, on "a retirement allowance of 54.5% of the compensation for which contributions are made during the 12-month period of membership providing the largest possible benefit". At 55 with 35 years, the allowance is one fifty-fifth of the best 12 months' pay for each year. The Department of Veterans Affairs says the same applies in the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund. Why it matters. The allowance is a fixed 54.5 percent of a single best year's pay, available at 55 or 60, which for most members is well above what the ordinary service retirement formula gives at those ages. The veteran can still choose ordinary service retirement if it is better, and the veteran formula does not pass to a surviving spouse. Veteran status for pensions is decided separately. N.J.S.A. 38A:21-12 has the Commissioner of Veterans Affairs determine veteran status under N.J.S.A. 43:15A-6 for PERS and 18A:66-2 for the teachers' fund, and the determination binds the pension board. The department says status for pensions "does not always meet the same criteria as Veteran's preference for exams": the Army benefits library summarizes it as honorable discharge and wartime service, 14 days in a combat theater for most periods and 90 days for Vietnam. Apply on the department's Application for Veteran Designation for Pension, and read the Division of Pensions and Benefits' Fact Sheet 17. The Army benefits library adds that members can separately buy up to 10 years of credit for active military service before enrolment, subject to the Division of Pensions and Benefits' rules.