The Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) is the State of California retirement system in which San Francisco State University participates. It is coordinated with Federal Social Security. Membership is mandatory for those persons employed full-time or at a time base of . 50 for a period of employment of one academic year. PERS is a Defined Benefit Plan and the benefits are calculated using the following formula: (years of service) x (age factor) x (average salary). Employees may retire at age fifty with five years of service credit. Brief summaries about certain aspects of retirement follow. Detailed information about retirement is found at the SFSU Human Resources web site and faculty members considering retirement should meet with a Human Resources representative early on in their planning process.