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:
“I am 60 years of age and am applying for a federal position. My intent is to work for five years from date of employment.
What does, “high three” mean? How is it determined, or calculated?”
Reg’s response:
Your “high-3′ is the average of your three highest consecutive years of basic pay, the amount from which retirement deductions are taken. That figure would then be included in the formula used to compute your annuity.
Because you are already 60 years old, if you were to work for 5 years your annuity would be calculate using the following formula: .01 X your high-3 X 5 years of service.
