{"id":27682,"date":"2024-04-25T13:48:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T13:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/04\/25\/ask-reg-what-is-high-3-and-how-is-it-a-benefit-in-retirement\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:09:17","slug":"ask-reg-what-is-high-3-and-how-is-it-a-benefit-in-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/fedlife\/retirement\/2024\/04\/25\/ask-reg-what-is-high-3-and-how-is-it-a-benefit-in-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Reg: What is \u2018High 3\u2032 and how is it a benefit in retirement?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Fed Times reader asks:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am 60 years of age and am applying for a federal position.&nbsp; My intent is to work for five years from date of employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What does, \u201chigh three\u201d mean?&nbsp; How is it determined, or calculated?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/your-career\/2023\/11\/21\/is-it-worth-delaying-retirement-to-maximize-high-3-at-next-gs-level\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ask_the_expert.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Is it worth delaying retirement to maximize high-3 at next GS level?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Your \u201chigh-3\u201d average pay is the highest average basic pay you earned during any 3 consecutive years of service.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reg\u2019s response:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your \u201chigh-3\u2032 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"419\" height=\"600\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635760103079222297-fed-reg-jones-columnjpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54230\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635760103079222297-fed-reg-jones-columnjpg.jpg 419w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635760103079222297-fed-reg-jones-columnjpg.jpg?resize=210,300 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 419px) 100vw, 419px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Federal Times columnist Reg Jones, photographed at his home in Hamilton, Va., on Wednesday, January 29, 2014. (Mike Morones\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Got a question for the Federal Times expert? Send inquiries to:&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:fedexperts@federaltimes.com\">fedexperts@federaltimes.com<\/a><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to calculate your High 3 for federal retirement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":73497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":59,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[11,31,15,33,69,59],"tags":[8428,8451],"coauthors":[3269],"class_list":["post-27682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fedlife","category-home","category-management","category-newsletters","category-pay-benefits","category-retirement","tag-benefits","tag-retirement"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ZR75NTA66BDPBLU2N24D7W75J4","arc_canonical_url":"\/fedlife\/retirement\/2024\/04\/25\/ask-reg-what-is-high-3-and-how-is-it-a-benefit-in-retirement\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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