Your pension.
What it actually pays, how it's calculated, the high-3 lever that sets it, the annuity supplement bridge, and how COLAs grow it.
Every guide in this cluster
OPM Services Online: What You Can Change Yourself
What you can change yourself in OPM Services Online, what you can do without logging in, and the tax withholding default to check first.
Reading Your OPM Annuity Statement
What every line on your OPM annuity statement means, and the five things to check each time, including your spouse’s survivor amount.
Can Your Federal Annuity Be Garnished?
Child support, alimony, and IRS levies can reach a federal annuity. Commercial creditors cannot. The limits and the protections.
Starting Federal Service After 50
Joined federal service after 50? You can still earn a pension at 62 with 5 years and keep FEHB for life.
The Earnings Survey That Cuts Your FERS Supplement
$1 withheld for every $2 over $24,480, landing in July of the following year — and unlike Social Security, nothing is credited back. Plus the suspension that follows a missing form.
Locality Pay and Your Pension: Why Location Changes Your Annuity for Life
Locality is part of basic pay, so it flows into the high-3 and the annuity. About $9,000 a year separates San Francisco from Rest of U.S. — and the 2027 freeze holds it there.
2027 COLA Tracker: CSRS, FERS, and Social Security
The running calculation, the scenarios, the FERS reduced formula, and the Part B offset — with a calculator for your own annuity. Updated each CPI release.
The December 11 Funding Deadline: What a Lapse Would Do to Your Retirement
What a lapse touches — new claim processing, TSP contributions, paychecks — and the much larger list it cannot touch, including every annuity payment.
Turning 62 as a FERS Retiree: The Supplement Ends, the COLA Starts
The supplement stops automatically, the first COLA arrives, and Social Security opens at 70% — a 32% income cliff for anyone who assumes the switchover happens by itself.
Working in Retirement: The Three Earnings Tests
The supplement test, the Social Security earnings test, and the IRMAA cliff — three thresholds, two definitions of income, and three different lags.
The Average Federal Pension: What FERS Actually Pays (2026)
The ~$2,126/month average FERS annuity, the 1%/1.1% formula, why it's smaller than CSRS, and the three-legged stool — with an annuity estimator.
How the FERS Pension Is Calculated: The 2026 Federal Employee Guide
The full FERS pension formula — high-3, multipliers, special-category rules, sick leave conversion, and the 1.1% multiplier upgrade at 62/20. With a working pension estimator.
Maximizing Your High-3: The Lever That Sets Your FERS Pension (2026)
Your high-3 multiplies across every year of service, so small gains compound. What counts, the maximizing playbook, the 1.1% multiplier, and a calculator.
The FERS Annuity Supplement: The Complete 2026 Guide
The supplement bridges the gap from MRA to age 62 — and the OPM-vs-SSA estimate gap costs many retirees money they don’t know is missing. Includes a working supplement calculator.
FERS & CSRS COLAs Explained: The Diet COLA and Age-62 Wall (2026)
Why two identical retirees drift apart: the FERS age-62 wall, the diet-COLA cap, full CSRS adjustments, and why the supplement gets none — with a gap projector.
Back to the full pillar
This is one cluster of the FERS & CSRS pillar. Explore your pension, retirement timing, retiring early, survivor decisions, service credit, and special situations in the full pillar.
← Back to FERS & CSRS