Upon retirement, retirees receive initial notice confirming their preliminary pension amount.  Generally, it takes three to four months for the pension to be finalized.  At that time, a second notice is mailed to the retiree, confirming the final pension amount.

A retiree’s first three to four pension payments could be different from the amount on the original pension estimate.  This difference is due to Earnable Compensation and service credit that had not yet been credited to the retiree’s record.  NHRS law requires the employer to report to NHRS all Earnable Compensation, including any eligible termination pay, within 120 days from the date of the member’s termination in order for those amounts to be included in the pension calculation.  To ensure that retirees receive a pension payment as soon as possible following termination from employment, the retiree is added to the NHRS payroll based on preliminary information, and retroactive adjustments are made, if needed, once the benefit is finalized.