PRESENT VALUE PENSION CALCULATOR

This net present value pension calculator calculates the present value of defined benefit pension plans for division of assets in divorce. This pension valuation calculator is also useful for people who need to know today’s cash value of their pension in order to make a decision about a lump sum buyout offer from a pension provider or simply to know their net worth. This present value (PV) calculator uses an actuarial formula and makes over 4000 calculations, taking into account both interest rates and mortality rates. It does not use the “life expectancy” method, which some accountants and financial planners use, because the life expectancy method is inherently inaccurate.

The present value pension calculator is particularly useful for divorcing couples who need a present value valuation of a pension for division of marital assets. The calculator not only determines the present value of a pension, it also calculates the “marital portion” of the pension using a coverture ratio. In other words, it determines what percent of the present value of the pension was earned during the years of marriage. In many states, this marital portion of the pension is considered marital property, so this part of the total pension present value is shared equally between spouses in many cases. You can learn more about division of retirement accounts in divorce here.

OUR CALCULATORS

About Professor

Benjamin Bailey

I am not an actuary or divorce lawyer, but a Professor of Communication at the University of assachusetts-Amherst. I received my BA from Brown University and my PhD, in inguistic Anthropology, from the University of California Los Angeles.

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USE THE PRESENT VALUE PENSION CALCULATOR

To use this present value calculator, you must first get one piece of information from your particular pension plan. You must determine what your projected monthly benefit would be if you a) stopped working now, and b) began drawing your pension benefits at a normal, future retirement age for your job or occupation. For example, if you have 15 years of pension plan participation, you must find out what your monthly pension benefit would be if you retired with 15 years of service at age 62, 66, or some other projected retirement age. The retirement age that you choose to determine your future monthly benefit amount is also the retirement age that you will enter in the present value calculator below. It does not matter how old you are right now, and it does not matter if you plan to continue to work at your job for more years. The monthly benefit required for a present value calculation is the benefit that a person who retired at a normal retirement age (that you specify) would get if they had the number of years of service that you currently have .

Your pension plan administrator can provide you with this projected monthly benefit, and many pension plans have online calculators or formulas that allow you to calculate this projected monthly benefit yourself. I have compiled links to pension-specific information for each of the 100 largest pension plans in the United States and pension administrator telephone numbers for an additional 5000 US pension funds. You will enter the predicted monthly benefit they give you into the calculator under “9)”, below.

Your pension administrator or pension information webpage can also give you information about COLA’s (“cost of living adjustments”) for your pension, if it has any. If your pension has a guaranteed COLA, you should find out whether it is a fixed dollar amount (choice 10b, below), a percentage of the entire pension benefit amount (choice 10c, below), or a percentage of some fractional part of the entire benefit (choice 10d, below). You should also find out when your COLA starts to take effect. For many pensions it is one year after retirement. If you indicate that your pension has a COLA, you will be asked to enter the number of years and months between the time you retire and the time that the first COLA is applied.

  Disclaimer. Before filling out the form, check this box to indicate that you understand and agree with the disclaimer below.

After confirming your inputs, you will pay with a credit card via PayPal before receiving the present value. The information contained within this website is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for obtaining professional legal or accounting advice. ValueYourPension.com is not associated with any lawyer, actuary, or accountant, and it does not provide legal or accounting advice. The results provided by this calculator are calculations that depend on assumptions about future interest rates, cost of living adjustments, and life expectancies as well as other numbers you enter into this calculator.

A. Optional information for .pdf report

B. Required information for coverture ratio ("marital portion") calculation

Yes No
Yes No

Questions 3) and 4) are designed to gather information about when you earned or purchased pension credits, in order to calculate what percent of your pension credits were earned during marriage. You can enter up to six different periods of work and indicate for each what percent of pension credit you were receiving ("Percent of full-time credit earning"). For many pensions, the amount of pension credit you earn is prorated for part-time work. Thus, if you work 80% time, you might earn 80% of the normal pension credit for that period of work.

Only enter work periods when you were earning pension credits. For example, if you have worked 40% time and working 40% time does not earn pension credits from your employer, do not include this work period here.

You can enter pension credits (typically "years of service") that you have purchased under 4).










  Allow me to enter more periods of work













C. Required information for present value calculation

 
 
Choose one of the three valuation methods by checking the circle next to the name. In 2020, historically low interest rates were generating unusual, historically high present values with the PBGC and GATT methods. As of March 2021, GATT rates had returned to the range they had been in over the last decade, giving more "typical" present values. The PBGC 4022 method is difficult to use because the IRS stopped publishing the interest rates for it in an easy-to-use fashion in 2021. You can still use it, however, by following the multi-step directions I give. The PBGC 4044 method will be added to this calculator as soon as I debug it. (you can read a discussion of the different methods--and the different present value outcomes they generate--here):
 
  I want to do a PBGC (4022) method  "PBGC" stands for "Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation". This method uses two different interest rates, which are published each month by the PBGC. As of early 2020, this method gives the highest present value for pensions that are already in payout status or within a few years of payout status. It gives the second highest present value if the pension will not start for decades. calculation
  I want to do an IRC (Internal Revenue Code) method  "IRC"stands for "Internal Revenue Code." This method uses three different interest rates, which are published by the IRS each month. As of early 2020, this method generates present values that are lower than those generated by the other two methods. calculation
  I want to do a GATT method  "GATT" stands for "Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade." This method uses a daily changing market rate, the 30-year treasury rate, in its calculations. This method generates the highest present values if a pension will not be in payout status for many years (decades). It generates the second highest present value if a pension is already in payout status or just a few years from being in payout status. calculation
For 2021 and later, you can enter "4" for the "Deferred Annuities interest rate", but you must look up the "immediate" interest rate in a multistep process. First, look up the 12 year bond rate for the month TWO MONTHS BEFORE the date when do the calculation, and then second, find the corresponding "immediate" interest rate in the "Immediate annuity rate (percent)" column of this pdf. If you are doing a calculation in January 2023, for example, you would look up the 12 year bond rate for November 2022 and find it to be 5.73. You would then see that 5.73 falls between 5.52 and 5.75 in the far left column of the .pdf chart, corresponding to a 2.75% immediate rate. For 2020 and earlier determination dates, look up and enter the PBGC "Immediate" interest rate for the date you wish to use as your determination date. The immediate intereste rate might look like "0" or ".25" or "1.5". Take the number from the "Immediate" column for the desired month in the table.
"Immediate" interest rate:
Confirm that the Deferred Annuities rate is "4.00" and enter "4" in the "Deferred Annuities (i1, i2,i3) interest rate" box.
Deferred Annuities (i1, i2, i3) interest rate:
First Segment:
Second Segment:
Third Segment:
7a) My pension has no COLA. (If your pension has an occasional, one-time COLA, you should choose this one.)  Many pensions today have no COLA. If you have a COLA that will only be applied occasionally, then choose 7a), "no COLA".
7b) My pension has a fixed dollar-amount COLA. Many pensions have a COLA that is a fixed dollar amount, i.e., the same, fixed amount each year. Some pensions call this "simple interest" on a specific amount, e.g., 2% of your first annual benefit. Enter the amount of this COLA and indicate how many years and months after retirement the COLA will first be applied. Many pension COLA’s start one year after retirement or on a specific date after a one year waiting period after retirement. Some pension COLA’s have five year waiting periods or waiting periods that depend on your specific age or date of hire.
The first COLA adjustment to my pension will be applied years and months after my retirement date.
7c) My pension has a COLA that is a percentage of the entire benefit. This is for COLA’s that have compounding interest. If your COLA has simple interest, you should choose 7b). If your compounding COLA interest rate varies from year to year, you might find the geometric mean of the COLA's from the last 20-30 years, and use that number. More simply, you might find the arithmetic mean from the last 20-30 years and subtract about 10%. Compounding interest can increase future benefits dramatically, so choosing a high percentage rate can exaggerate the future benefits, and present value, of your pension.
The first COLA adjustment to my pension will be applied years and months after my retirement date.
7d) For some pensions, the cost of living adjustment applies to only part of your entire annual benefit. My pension has a COLA that is a percentage of part of my total benefit amount. Some large pension systems, such as the MA State Employee Retirement System, have COLA percentages that apply to only part of the benefit. In MA, for example, pension benefits receive a 3% COLA but with a maximum benefit of $390 per year. These COLA’s can function like compounding interest COLA’s until a certain threshold is reached and then function like a fixed dollar amount. If one has a MA pension that starts at $10,000 per year, it will receive a compounding COLA of 3% until the annual benefit is greater than or equal to $13,000. After that, it will receive a fixed amount COLA of $390 annually. ValueYourPension.com calculates this correctly when you choose this 7d) COLA option.
The first COLA adjustment to my pension will be applied years and months after my retirement date.

Please report any bugs to me and please pass along suggestions on how to make it more comprehensive or user-friendly: [email protected]

Below is the information you have input. To make changes, simply scroll up and make changes, then press "CONFIRM MY INPUTS" again.
Total pension credits (typically "years of service"):
Pension credits accumulated during marriage:
Projected age at retirement:
Mortality Table:
Predicted COLA:
Calculation Methodology and Interest Rates:

To make any changes to what you have input, simply scroll up, make changes, and click the CONFIRM MY INPUTS button again.

Age Year Basic annual pension payment before any cost of living adjust (COLA), if any Cost of living adjustment (COLA), if any
Please pay with A) a coupon code or B) through PayPal
A present value pension valuation and report costs $35. The next best price on the web for an instant present value calculation is $175. You can pay with a credit card or PayPal. If the calculator does not work properly for you, email me for a full refund.

A) To pay with a coupon code:

    i) Enter your coupon code
    ii) Click the blue "APPLY" button
    iii) Click the large green button "GIVE ME THE PRESENT VALUE".

B) If you do not have a coupon code, i) purchase the number of calculations you desire through PayPal, and then ii) click the large green button "GIVE ME THE PRESENT VALUE":

Paypal can take up to a minute to process your payment. If the button "These inputs are correct. Give me the present value" does not respond, please wait and then try again.
Results
Present value of pension as of :
Marital portion of present value of pension:
Coverture ratio (portion of the pension present value earned during marriage):
Total pension credits (typically "years of service"):
Pension credits accumulated during marriage:
Projected age at retirement:
Mortality Table:
Predicted COLA:
Calculation Methodology and Interest Rates:


Age Year during which Age starts Partial Year Gross Annual Benefit Dollar value of annual COLA in Gross Annual Benefit Interest discount rate Probability of Surviving each year Present Value of Annual Benefit