The 2027 COLA Is 3.6%: What FERS Retirees Actually Get (2.6%), Who Gets Nothing, and What It Costs Over Time

Who This Article Is For

• FERS and CSRS retirees wondering what January's check will look like
• FERS retirees under 62 who saw the headline number and expect a raise
• Employees planning retirement who want to see how the diet COLA erodes a pension
• FERS Supplement recipients who work

1. The 2027 Numbers

The COLA is based on the change in the CPI-W — the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers — from the third quarter of 2025 to the third quarter of 2026.

2. Why FERS Gets Less: The Diet COLA

FERS annuity COLAs follow a three-tier rule (5 U.S.C. § 8462):

This year's 3.6% falls in the "3% or more" tier, so FERS retirees get 2.6% — 1 percentage point less than Social Security and CSRS.

3. What It Means in Dollars

On a $3,000-a-month annuity:

The gap compounds. In a year like this one, the FERS annuity loses about 1 percentage point of purchasing power relative to inflation; years of 3%+ inflation stack those losses. (20 years of diet-COLA erosion.)

4. First-Year Retirees: The Prorated COLA

If you retired during 2026, your first COLA is prorated: you receive 1/12 of the full COLA for each month you were on the annuity rolls before December. A FERS retiree who started receiving an annuity in July 2026, for example, gets a fraction of the 2.6% increase in January, then the full COLA in future years — provided they're 62 or older, or otherwise exempt from the age-62 rule.

5. Who's Exempt From the Age-62 Rule

The under-62 freeze applies only to regular FERS retirees. These get the COLA at any age:

• Special-category retirees: law enforcement officers, firefighters, air traffic controllers, and others
• Disability retirees
• Survivor annuitants

A regular FERS retiree who left at 57 waits five years — and receives no COLA catch-up at 62. Increases start from the annuity amount at that point.

6. FERS Supplement Recipients: The 2027 Earnings Limit

The FERS Supplement never gets a COLA, but the earnings test that can reduce it is indexed. For 2027, the Supplement is reduced by $1 for every $2 of earned income above $25,560 a year (up from $24,480 in 2026). Special-category retirees are exempt from the test until their MRA. (The Supplement earnings test.)

7. Social Security: The Rest of the January Picture

Social Security rises the full 3.6%, but the net change depends on Medicare. If you're 65 or older and enrolled in Part B, the 2027 Part B premium — announced separately, usually in November — is deducted from the same check and can absorb part of the increase.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 2027 FERS COLA? 2.6%, applied to annuities of FERS retirees who are 62 or older, disability retirees, survivors, and special-category retirees.

What is the 2027 CSRS COLA? 3.6%, the full CPI-W increase — the same as Social Security.

When will I see the 2027 COLA? In the annuity payment you receive in early January 2027 (the December 2026 annuity).

I'm a FERS retiree under 62. Do I get a COLA? No, unless you're a special-category, disability, or survivor annuitant. Regular FERS retirees receive their first COLA after turning 62.

Does the FERS Supplement get a COLA? No. It stays the same amount until it ends at 62.

I retired in 2026. Do I get the full COLA? No — your first COLA is prorated by the number of months you received an annuity before December.

The Bottom Line

The headline COLA isn't the FERS COLA. This year FERS retirees 62 and older get 2.6%, regular retirees under 62 get nothing, and the Supplement stays flat. Plan around the number that actually applies to you — and remember that the gap with inflation compounds.

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