Explore More · How Much Will I Get?

What Is Final Average Compensation?

Not your salary — and it counts more than you'd expect. FAC is the average of your highest-earning consecutive years, and "earnings" is defined a lot more broadly than base pay alone.

💬 GLP Retirement Minute

What Actually Counts Toward FAC

This is the official, ORS-confirmed list — broader than most people assume:

Base wages Overtime Extra assignments (e.g. coaching) Longevity pay Merit / performance pay Bonus payments Unused sick or vacation payout Sabbatical stipends Retirement incentive payments Termination pay Up to 240 hrs accrued leave payout*

*Only if your FAC window includes your literal last day in the Defined Benefit plan.

🔍

ORS doesn't just take your last 3 or 5 years automatically

They review your entire earnings record to find your actual highest consecutive window. For most people this ends up being their final years, since pay typically rises over a career — but it isn't assumed.

🛡️

There's a real anti-spiking check

If one year's wages jump significantly above the year before, ORS specifically verifies that the increase matches the normal salary schedule for your job classification. A sudden, artificial bump right before retirement isn't something you can engineer your way into.

🧮

Where FAC fits into your pension

See How Much Will I Get? for the full formula, or plug your own number into the Pension Calculator.

The bottom line

FAC is closer to "everything on your pay stub during your best consecutive years" than just "salary" — which is genuinely good news for anyone who's earned extra pay for coaching, advising, or other assignments over their career.

← Back to the Extended Roadmap Or Finish Your Baseline Steps →