Military Retirement COLA 2027: 3.6% Expected
Military retired pay goes up on December 1, 2026 by the same CPI-W measure Social Security uses: 3.6% for High-3, BRS and Final Pay, and 2.6% for REDUX. DFAS has not posted its 2027 notice yet, so these are expected figures, not official ones. Members whose retirement took effect during 2026 may get a smaller first COLA, worked out below. To see what your retired pay is before the COLA, use the military retirement pay calculator.
Maintained by Archie Chang · Rules and index data checked October 24, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Status: expected, not yet official
The third-quarter 2026 CPI-W averaged 328.746, 3.6% above 317.265 a year earlier. That is the figure behind the Social Security COLA, and 10 U.S.C. 1401a applies it to retired pay effective December 1. The rate becomes official when DFAS posts its notice for retirees; until then every dollar figure here is an estimate.
Military retirement COLA calculator
Use the date your retirement takes effect, as on your retirement orders. It is not the date of your first payment: retired pay is paid after the month it covers, so a retirement effective March 1 first pays on April 1 but still belongs in the January to March row.
- COLA applied (expected, not yet announced by DFAS)
- 3.6%
- Monthly pay for December 2026
- $3,108
- Increase
- +$108 per month ($1,296 per year)
Rounded down to the dollar. Figures are expected, not yet announced by DFAS; the full-year rate is the third-quarter 2026 CPI-W over third-quarter 2025. The December 2026 pay, the first at the new rate, is scheduled for December 31, 2026.
First COLA by retirement effective date (expected)
| Retirement effective date | High-3 / BRS | REDUX / CSB |
|---|---|---|
| Before January 1, 2026 | 3.6% | 2.6% |
| January 1 to March 31, 2026 | Not computable yet | Not computable yet |
| April 1 to June 30, 2026 | 2.6% | 2.1% |
| July 1 to September 30, 2026 | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| October 1 to December 31, 2026 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
These figures apply the rule in 10 U.S.C. 1401a(d), (e) and (f)(3) to the BLS CPI-W index. January to March 2026 cannot be computed because it needs the fourth-quarter 2025 CPI-W and BLS published no October 2025 index. The first COLA never exceeds the full COLA (1401a(f)(3)); the REDUX column is held at the full REDUX rate, as the cells marked "1401a(e) & 1401a(f)" in DoD's tables are.
How the military retired pay COLA works
Each year the full COLA is the percent by which the third-quarter CPI-W exceeds the prior year's third quarter, to the nearest tenth, effective December 1 (10 U.S.C. 1401a(b)). It is never negative, and after a year with no increase the next one is measured from the last year that had one (1401a(g)(3)). High-3, BRS and Final Pay retirees all get that full rate. REDUX members get it minus 1 percentage point when it is over 1%.
The first COLA is different for anyone whose retirement took effect after the start of the year. For High-3 and BRS it is the percent by which the third-quarter index exceeds the index of the calendar quarter before the quarter in which retirement took effect (1401a(d)), and it can never exceed the full COLA (1401a(f)(3)); REDUX members also give up a quarter point for each quarter between those two (1401a(e)). DoD says the purpose is to keep a new retiree from getting both a new pay raise and a full COLA in the first year.
The COLA trap
"COLA trap" is shorthand for that smaller first adjustment. If retirement takes effect in October, November or December the first COLA is 0.0%; earlier in the year you get part of it; before January 1 you get all of it. The full rate resumes the next December. It changes the first year only. The active-duty raise and the retirement COLA are also different numbers, since the COLA follows the CPI-W and the raise follows the Employment Cost Index, as DoD points out.
For pay before the COLA, see the military retirement pay calculator; for what active-duty members earn, the 2027 military pay chart; for the civilian side, the FERS COLA for 2027.
Past DoD first-COLA tables the rule reproduces
| Dec. 1 COLA | Full | Jan–Mar | Apr–Jun | Jul–Sep | Oct–Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5.9% | 5.7% | 4.4% | 1.8% | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 3.2% | 3.1% | 2.2% | 0.9% | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 2.5% | 2.5% | 1.4% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
Each cell is the High-3 and BRS first COLA printed in the DoD memorandum for that year, for members whose retirement took effect in that quarter. The rule gives the same number for every cell of these three years and for the 16 years of tables in DoD Financial Management Regulation Vol 7B Chapter 8 (December 2009 to 2024), with one exception: for the 2013 REDUX third-quarter cell the FMR prints 0.0% and the rule gives 0.1%. That is why the 2026 figures can be shown.
Military retirement COLA questions
What is the military retirement COLA for 2027?
Expected: 3.6% for High-3, BRS and Final Pay retired pay. The cost-of-living adjustment is the percent by which the third-quarter CPI-W exceeds the base index: 328.746 in 2026 against 317.265 in 2025. That is the same 3.6% the Social Security Administration announced. DFAS has not posted its 2027 notice, so this is an expected figure, not an official one. It takes effect December 1, 2026 for everyone whose retirement took effect before January 1, 2026.
How much is the partial COLA for people who retired in 2026?
By the date retirement took effect in 2026, the first COLA works out to 2.6% for April 1 to June 30, 0.4% for July 1 to September 30 and 0.0% for October 1 to December 31 (High-3 and BRS). For January to March the figure cannot be computed yet: it depends on the fourth-quarter 2025 CPI-W, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics published no October 2025 index. The rule is 10 U.S.C. 1401a(d): the percent by which the third-quarter CPI-W exceeds the index for the calendar quarter immediately before the quarter your retirement took effect, never more than the full COLA, so there is no proration by month. Members whose retirement took effect October 1 to December 31 get 0.0% the first time. These figures are expected until DFAS posts its notice.
What is the COLA trap for military retirement?
It is the common name for the smaller first COLA. DoD describes the partial COLA as preventing "a retirement based on both a new pay raise and full COLA in the first year of retirement." The effect is real money in the first year: if retirement takes effect in the last quarter the first COLA is 0.0%, earlier in the year gives part of it, and the following December everyone gets the full rate. It is a timing rule, not a cut to your retired pay.
How is the REDUX COLA different?
Retired pay under REDUX (career status bonus) gets the CPI increase minus 1 percentage point when it is over 1%, so 2.6% instead of 3.6% for 2027 (10 U.S.C. 1401a(b)(3)). A smaller first-year COLA applies too, taking one fourth of a point off for each quarter between the quarter before retirement and the base quarter. At 62 the retired pay is recomputed as if the reduction and the lower COLAs had never applied (10 U.S.C. 1410).
Does BRS get the full COLA?
Yes. Members of the Blended Retirement System receive the same COLA as High-3 retirees, the full CPI increase, because 10 U.S.C. 1401a(b)(5) overrides the one-point reduction for members in the modernized retirement system.
Is the retirement COLA the same as the active-duty pay raise?
No. The COLA follows the CPI-W and applies December 1; the active-duty raise follows the Employment Cost Index and applies January 1. DoD notes that the two differ. Your retired pay is computed from your High-36 and is not recomputed when active-duty pay goes up; only the COLA changes it.
When is the new rate first paid?
The COLA is effective December 1, 2026. Retired pay is due on the first of the month for the month before, so the payment on December 1, 2026 is the November entitlement and is paid at the old rate, without the increase. According to the DFAS retired pay schedule (page updated September 16, 2026), the December 2026 entitlement, the first at the new rate, is paid on December 31, 2026.