Q: I understand that my FERS law enforcement retirement annuity will be determined by my consecutive high-3. How long do I have to work in a high locality pay area before I am eligible to receive that locality pay during my retirement? For example if I am a GS-13/Step 10 in a “Rest of US” locality pay area for two years, transfer to high locality pay area such as San Francisco (N/CA) as a GS-13/Step 10 for one year and then retire, will my high-3 be calculated as three years as a GS-13/Step 10 from the high locality pay area…
Browsing: high-3
Q: My permanent position in the states is a GS-12. If I deploy overseas for a GS-13, is that considered in calculating my high-3? A: If your basic pay overseas is greater and it falls within your highest 36 consecutive months of average basic pay, it will be included in your high-3.
Q: I’m 56 years old, which is my minimum retirement age, with 12 years of credible service. If I applied for disability retirement, would I receive benefits based on my years of service or the “60 percent first year, 40 percent thereafter” rule? If I would only receive the “high-3” times years of service calculation, what would be the advantage, if any, of disability retirement? A: Because you aren’t eligible for an immediate unreduced annuity, your benefit would be calculated under disability rules. You’d receive 60 percent of your high-3 minus 100 percent of any Social Security disability benefit to…
Q: When a person on Federal Employees Retirement System disability reaches age 62 and a recomputation is done, are the cost-of-living adjustments added to the “high-3” salary from the regular pay schedule or from the annuity COLA schedule? My high-3 was $47,116 when I became disabled in February 2004, and I turned 62 in June 2010. I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I was under the impression that COLA was determined by the GS schedule and locality pay. A: When you reach age 62, the time your spent on the disability annuity roll will be added to your actual…
Q: I can retire in February with 31 years of service under the Civil Service Retirement System as a part-time/flex employee in the U.S. Postal Service. My “high-3” years were from 2006-2009. Will they use these years to calculate my annuity? Is it always the last years? Is it always three consecutive years, or is it the highest consecutive three years? As a PTF, my hours changed yearly as to how many offices I worked in. Also, when I was hired in 1979, I never heard of “buying back” or anything related. Since I made no deposits, or didn’t know…
Q: My “high-3” years are not my last three years. I am thinking of retiring in June, and I have read that your last three consecutive years are your high-3 years. My highest three years, salary-wise, were 2003 to 2005. Will they use those years or my last three? A: An employee’s high-3 is always the highest three consecutive years of average salary, no matter when they occur in a career.
Q: I understand that under the Civil Service Retirement System, we can use unused sick leave toward federal service time that is used to determine the amount of time considered under the CSRS retirement pay formula. Also, I understand that under CSRS, the maximum time allowed is 42 years, which translates to 80 percent of the average salary in a worker’s “high-3” years. My questions are, if someone is covered by CSRS, if they add up their military and civil service time and get 42 years, can unused sick leave be added to the 42 years to get more than…
Q. In your article of 9/21/10, you stated: “Your annuity will be based on you highest three consecutive years of average basic pay. Basic pay is the amount of your salary from which retirement deductions are taken.” OPM states, “Unlike COLA payments, locality pay is included in calculating your “high 3″ average salary.” Can you please clarify? A. Locality pay is considered to be a part of basic pay for annuity calculations purposes.
Q. There is word from co-workers attending current CSRS/FERS retirement seminars that in the near future OPM will be implementing a high-5 calculation in annuity calculations. Will this effect all retiring workers when it becomes law or will older workers be grandfathered to the older high-3 calculation? A. OPM won’t be doing anything unless a law is passed that would require that a high-5 be used instead of a high-3. To date, only a few members of Congress have suggested such a change. If it were to become law, past experience says that it would only apply to those retiring after a…
Q. I was a FERS employee and received a $25,000 early out over five years ago. I would like to once again seek federal employment but do not know the rules covering my situation. I am sure that I would not have to repay the $25,000 since it has been over five years but do not know if I would surrender my retirement pay and receive the pay from the position I would seek. What are the rules for re-employment for retirees after five years of receiving the incentive to retire early? A. Because five years have passed since you…