FDNY Tier 3 in 2026
50% at 20, full escalation at 23, and the 25-year bonus

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The three changes, in one place

Each of these laws is short, and each is easy to misread from a headline. Here is what each one does, in the order they were signed.

• Chapter 692 of 2025 (signed December 19, 2025): a Tier 3 pension at 20 years is 50% of final average salary.
• Chapter 58 of 2026, Part ZZ (signed May 26, 2026): Tier 3 firefighters reach full escalation at 23 years of service. Police stay at 25.
• Chapter 58 of 2026, Part AAA (signed May 26, 2026): at 25 years of uniformed FDNY service, 5% of the top pay for your rank is added to the salary your pension is figured on, plus 1% a year past 25, up to 15%.

1. Fifty percent at twenty (Chapter 692 of 2025)

Tier 3 members could always retire at 20 years. What Chapter 692 changed is the amount. Before it, a Tier 3 pension at 20 years was 42% of final average salary and reached 50% only at 22 years, according to the state's fiscal note on the bill. Since December 19, 2025, it is 50% at 20. The law took effect the day it was signed.

It is a Tier 3 change only. Tier 2 members already had 50% at 20, so nothing changed for them. Two things did not change for Tier 3 either. The pension is still capped at 50% of final average salary, so staying past 20 does not raise the percentage. And at age 62 a Tier 3 pension is still reduced by half of the Social Security benefit earned from New York public work. A bill to remove that reduction, S6289-A, is in committee and is not law.

2. Full escalation at 23 years (Chapter 58 of 2026, Part ZZ)

Escalation is the yearly inflation raise on a Tier 3 pension: the lesser of 3% or the rise in prices, applied to the whole pension. Part ZZ added a new paragraph to the pension law, section 510(b)(2-a), so uniformed FDNY members reach the full escalation date at 23 years of credited service. Before May 26, 2026 the FDNY date was 25 years, the same as police. Police are still at 25.

The rule for starting early did not change. For each month your pension starts before the full escalation date, the escalation rate is cut by one thirty-sixth, and there is none at all if the pension starts more than 36 months early. So for a firefighter who starts collecting right away: none at exactly 20 years, about a third of the rate at 21, about two thirds at 22, and the full rate at 23.

Two details matter for anyone close to the line. Inflation above the 3% cap is not lost; the law carries it forward to later years. And a member whose pension starts at 20 years or fewer can get the city's cost-of-living adjustment instead, once they meet its own age and years-retired tests. The Fire Pension Fund has not yet published a booklet that reflects Part ZZ; its newest Tier 3 booklet dates from July 2022, so confirm your own date with the Fund.

3. The 25-year bonus (Chapter 58 of 2026, Part AAA)

Part AAA added section 15-110.1 to the city's Administrative Code. When a member retires in any rank with at least 25 years of uniformed FDNY service, 5% of the highest grade of pay for that rank is added to the salary used to figure the pension. Each whole year past 25 adds another 1%, up to 15% in total at 35 years. It applies in Tier 2 and Tier 3, to retirements on or after May 26, 2026, and it counts uniformed FDNY years only.

It raises the salary the pension is figured on, not the pension itself by 5%. For a Tier 3 pension, which is 50% of that salary, the pension gains half of the amount added. A worked example on a firefighter's top-step base pay of $109,352: at 25 years, 5% adds $5,468 to the pension salary, which adds about $2,734 a year to a Tier 3 pension. At 30 years, 10% adds $10,935, or about $5,468 a year. The added pension then gets the same escalation or cost-of-living raises as the rest.

Two cautions. The Fund decides which pay figure counts as the highest grade for your rank, and the city actuary's own costing used figures higher than the base rate, so a base-rate estimate like the one above can only come out the same or lower. And the base rates above date from contracts that have since expired; a new contract would raise them. Ask the Fund for your own number before you plan around it.

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What is still only a bill

S9203 in the Senate and A10254 in the Assembly would give FDNY members full escalation from the first month they are eligible to retire for service, which is 20 years, instead of the 23 years in Chapter 58. Both have sat in committee since February 2026 and neither is law. They were written before Chapter 58 passed, which is why their own summary still talks about a 25-year requirement; the real comparison now is 20 against 23.

S6289-A would remove the age-62 Social Security reduction on Tier 3 pensions. It is also in committee and is not law. Neither bill changes anything for you today, and we would not plan around either one until it is signed.

What this means for your money: 20, 23 or 25

These laws change the trade-offs around one date: when you put your papers in. They do not tell you which date is right, because that depends on things a pension formula cannot see, like your family, your health, a second job and what you have saved.

Retiring at 20. You get 50% of final average salary, plus the fixed $12,000 a year from the Variable Supplements Fund for a service retiree with 20 or more years. But a pension that starts at exactly 20 years gets no escalation, so for the years until the city cost-of-living adjustment applies, inflation is not offset. The question is what pays the difference. For many members that is the NYC Deferred Compensation 457(b): money in a governmental 457(b) can be taken after you leave City service at any age, with no 10% early-withdrawal penalty. Moving it to an IRA can bring that penalty back for withdrawals before 59½.

Staying to 23. Three more years of salary and full escalation from the first day of the pension. The 50% does not rise, so what you are buying is inflation protection on every future payment, and you are paying for it with three years of pension income you did not collect. That is a trade you can put numbers on: how much those three years of pension would have been, against what full escalation is worth over your expected retirement.

Staying to 25 and beyond. From 25, each year adds 1% of your rank's top pay to the pension salary, and the first year adds 5%. For a Tier 3 member that is a permanent raise worth half the amount added. Whether it is worth two more years on the job is again a comparison of income given up against a larger pension received.

Two other decisions move with the date. The survivor option you choose sets what your family has if you go first, and for Tier 3 Enhanced members it must be chosen within 30 days of the retirement date or the maximum allowance is granted. And the order you draw on the pension, the 457(b) and Social Security changes your taxes for years. A written plan puts these side by side with everything else you own so you can see what each choice gives up. This is general information about how the dates compare, not a recommendation of a retirement date.

Common questions

Does Chapter 692 change anything for Tier 2 firefighters?

No. Tier 2 already paid 50% of final average salary at 20 years. Chapter 692 gave Tier 3 the same 50% at 20.

When do FDNY Tier 3 members get full escalation now?

At 23 years of credited service, since May 26, 2026 (Chapter 58 of 2026, Part ZZ). A pension that starts earlier gets a reduced share: about a third at 21 years, about two thirds at 22, and none at exactly 20. NYPD members are still at 25.

Is the 25-year bonus 5% of my pension?

No. It is 5% of the top pay for the rank you retire in, added to the salary your pension is figured on, plus 1% a year past 25 up to 15%. A Tier 3 pension gains about half of the amount added.

Is S9203 law?

No. S9203 and A10254 would move full escalation to 20 years. Both have been in committee since February 2026.

Sources

The primary sources behind this article, so you can read them yourself:

• NYC Fire Pension Fund, the Fund's own site. For firefighters and fire officers, only the Fund can confirm your service credit, tier and benefit.
• Chapter 692 of 2025 (Senate S4727)
• Chapter 58 of 2026, Parts ZZ and AAA (Assembly A10008)
• RSSL section 510 (escalation)
• Senate S9203 (pending)

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