Q.: I currently live in DC and plan to retire next year. If I move to another part of the country, say Florida (which would be a lower locality pay), does my retirement annuity (locality pay) get adjusted to the area that I am moving to?
A.: Your CSRS or FERS retirement benefit will be computed using your high-three average salary. This is the largest annual rate resulting from averaging your rates of basic pay in effect over any period of three consecutive years of creditable civilian service, with each rate weighted by the number of months and days it was in effect. Usually this is your last three years of federal service. Basic pay includes locality pay. If you retire to a lower locality area, your retirement benefit won’t change since your high-three average was based on your salary rates while employed. Once you are retired, your CSRS or FERS retirement will receive cost-of-living adjustments. However, these adjustments are not linked to locality, and they are computed differently for CSRS and FERS.
