Membership eligibility rules and salary

Membership overview

The Teachers Retirement Association (TRA) is a defined benefit pension plan that provides lifetime monthly retirement benefits to Minnesota’s public school teachers and administrators, school professionals, certain employees of the Minnesota State colleges and universities system, and others.

TRA does not cover certain positions that may be covered by the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) or by the Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS). Individuals with no direct employment relationship to a TRA employer are not TRA eligible. For example, substitute teachers employed by Teachers on Call rather than employed by a school district would not qualify for TRA benefits.

TRA membership is governed by Minnesota statute. If you are unsure whether a position is TRA eligible, message your TRA contact using the secure employer portal to request a review and determination. Alternatively, email a copy of the position description, including the percentage of time for each job task, to TRA.

Salary

Salary means the periodic compensation upon which member contributions are required before deductions for deferred compensation, supplemental retirement plans, or other voluntary salary reduction programs.

In general, employer-paid benefits, lump-sum payments for unused sick or vacation leave, and severance pay in any form are not considered TRA-eligible salary. If you have an administrator who receives pay for additional services, send a message in the myTRA employer portal to your TRA contact to determine whether the additional pay is eligible for the pension.