Myth 2: Early retirement handouts have been eliminated The T’s much higher service allowance rate and easier to manipulate average pensionable salary base8 are only the tip of the iceberg. One of the motivations for MBTA pension “reform” was the notorious “23 and out” rule, whereby T employees could retire after just 23 years of service without penalty to their service allowance rate. Massachusetts taxpayers are largely unaware that this misguided practice was replaced with a similar provision, which grants a full pension as early as age 55 after just 25 years of service.