Your pension, then and now. The buying power calculator.
Inflation hasn't slowed down. Your pension has. Enter the year you retired below and see — year by year, in real dollars — exactly how much purchasing power your pension has quietly lost.
How this calculator works.
The data is official.
COLA percentages come directly from the NC Retirement Systems Division's record of TSERS retiree increases since 1985. Inflation figures use the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U annual average.
"Total TSERS increase" includes both pieces.
Some years had a base COLA plus a formula-based increase for longer-service retirees. The calculator uses the total combined figure — the actual percentage paid to retirees that year.
Your individual experience may differ.
Specific plan provisions, retirement timing within the year, and individual benefit formulas can affect your exact figure. The calculator shows the picture for a typical TSERS pensioner who retired in the year you enter.
One-time bonuses aren't counted.
Recent legislative bonus checks (2022, 2023, 2024) are not COLAs and don't appear in this calculator. They don't compound or carry forward into your monthly pension — so they don't restore buying power.
Now make them hear it.
You've seen what your pension has lost. Your legislators need to see it too. Send them your number — the dollar amount you've quietly given up since the day you retired.