For most career members, yes, and by a wide margin. You pay a percentage of one year's salary once, and receive three additional years counted in a pension formula that pays for life. We do not publish a figure because it turns on your salary, tier and plan — ask your retirement system for a cost estimate, which they will produce on request.

I heard the limit is going up to four years.

Legislation to raise the cap to four years and cut the Tier 6 rate to 3% has been introduced. It is not law. We publish what is enacted, and you should plan against three years until that changes.

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Buy Up to Three Years of Pension Credit for Military Service

A New York public employee can purchase up to three years of retirement service credit for military duty — for 3% or 6% of one year's salary per year bought. You must apply before you retire.

Verified August 18, 2026

What this benefit is

If you work for New York State or a local government, you can buy up to three years of pension service credit for your military service.

The cost is 3% of your last twelve months of compensation for each year bought — 6% if you first joined a New York public retirement system on or after 1 April 2012.

What it's worth: Up to three additional years of pension service credit, for life

The cost is 3% of your last twelve months' compensation per year claimed, or 6% if you first joined a New York public retirement system on or after 1 April 2012.
The value is three extra years counted in a pension formula that pays for the rest of your life, and it also moves you three years closer to any service-length milestone. For most career members the purchase pays for itself within a few years of retiring.
We do not publish a dollar figure because it depends entirely on your salary, tier and plan.

Who is entitled to it

A member of a New York public retirement system with at least five years of credited service.
Honorably discharged — or discharged with a qualifying condition, or a discharged LGBT veteran, on anything other than a bad conduct or dishonorable discharge.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

The thing most people get wrong

Apply before you retire, or lose it forever

§1000(5) requires the application to be made before the effective date of retirement. There is no cure and no late route. Every year a New York public employee retires without having heard of this provision and cannot go back for it. And because the cost is calculated on the twelve months immediately preceding the application, applying early in a career with rising pay is cheaper than applying at the end — the incentive runs the opposite way to most retirement decisions.

How to claim it

Deadline: Before your effective date of retirement — no exceptions

1Check your credited service first. Below five years the application cannot be accepted, and the clock is on your civilian service, not your military service.
2Apply as early as you can. The cost is calculated on your last twelve months of compensation, so applying later in a career with rising pay costs more, not less.
3File before your effective date of retirement. §1000(5) makes that the hard boundary and there is no cure for missing it.
4You may pay by payroll deduction, or forward the balance before you retire.

File with: Your New York public retirement system
Documents you will need: dd214 · retirement system service credit application
No renewal needed

Common mistakes that cost people this benefit

Waiting until retirement planning starts. By then the cost is at its highest and the deadline is at its closest.
Assuming a less-than-honorable discharge shuts you out. The qualifying condition and discharged LGBT veteran routes are in the statute, and New York has a separate process for restoring your discharge character for state purposes.
Counting the military service towards the five-year minimum. §1000(2) excludes it — the five years must be civilian credited service.

Worth knowingThe deadline is the most important fact in this record. Applying before the effective date of retirement is a statutory condition, not an administrative preference. A member who retires and then discovers the provision has lost it permanently.

Worth knowingThe 3% and 6% rates split on tier. A member who first joined on or after 1 April 2012 pays 6% under §1000(9); everyone else pays 3% under §1000(3). Both are percentages of the twelve months of compensation immediately preceding the application, which is why applying early in a rising-salary career is cheaper.

Worth knowingThe discharge routes are broader than most pension guidance suggests. A veteran with a qualifying condition, or a discharged LGBT veteran, qualifies on a discharge that is anything other than bad conduct or dishonorable.

Known gapLegislation has been introduced to raise the cap to four years and to cut the Tier 6 rate to 3%. We publish the law as enacted and will not publish a proposal as though it were in force.

Questions people ask

Is it worth it?: For most career members, yes, and by a wide margin. You pay a percentage of one year's salary once, and receive three additional years counted in a pension formula that pays for life. We do not publish a figure because it turns on your salary, tier and plan — ask your retirement system for a cost estimate, which they will produce on request.
I heard the limit is going up to four years.: Legislation to raise the cap to four years and cut the Tier 6 rate to 3% has been introduced. It is not law. We publish what is enacted, and you should plan against three years until that changes.

Sources

authority · statuteN.Y. Retire. & Soc. Sec. Law §1000

Why only one source type: The statute is the authority and prescribes both the eligibility and the cost formula. Each retirement system publishes its own operating form, and no single one governs all of them.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.