As a member of TSERS, you contribute six percent of your monthly income toward your retirement. If you receive significant salary increases in the years before retirement or over the course of your career, your monthly retirement benefit at retirement may exceed what your contributions would be expected to fund. Significant late-career promotions, conversion of benefits into compensation, and leave payouts at retirement may also cause your monthly retirement benefit to exceed what your contributions would be expected to fund. The Contribution-Based Benefit Cap was created to protect this system for current and future retirees, by providing a method for the payment of these unforeseen costs.

If you retire on or after January 1, 2015, with an average final compensation (AFC) of $100,000 or more (adjusted annually for inflation), you may fall under a contribution-based benefit cap. 

If you were first hired before January 1, 2015, your last employer will be required to pay the additional contribution if it is deterined that your allowance is in excess of the cap and is subject to an adjustment. TSERS will notify your employer and will provide a statement of the cost of the additional contribution required to pay for your benefit in excess of the cap. 

If you were first hired on or after January 1, 2015, your employer may choose whether or not to pay this additional contribution; if your employer chooses not to pay, you will be required to accept a benefit reduced to the benefit cap unless you pay the additional contribution. TSERS will notify you and will provide a statement of the cost of the additional contribution required to pay for your benefit in excess of the cap, along with the deadline to submit payment.