Ask Reg: Is my ‘High 3′ retirement subject to cost of living adjustment?

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The following is a question submitted by a reader to Federal Times columnist Reg Jones, a charter member of the senior executive service and the resident expert on federal employee retirement issues.

A Fed Times reader asks:

“Do cost-of-living allowance and non-foreign post differential count toward High 3 for FERS?”

Reg’s response:

Your high-3 will be based on the amount of your salary from which retirement deductions are taken. These include such things as locality pay, special salary rates and within-grade increases. It does not include such things as overtime, awards, bonuses, allowances and differentials.

Got a question for the Federal Times expert? Send inquiries to: fedexperts@federaltimes.com
Federal Times columnist Reg Jones, photographed at his home in Hamilton, Va., on Wednesday, January 29, 2014. (Mike Morones/Staff)

About 

Reg Jones, a charter member of the senior executive service, is our resident expert on retirement and the federal government. From 1979 to ’95, he served as an assistant director of the Office of Personnel Management handling recruiting and examining, white and blue collar pay, retirement, insurance and other issues. Opinions expressed are his own.