Your survivor election locks in
Thirty days after your first check.
The surprise: your spouse only has to outlive you by about a fifth of your retirement for the election to pay off.
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1. The three choices
| Election | Your annuity | Your spouse gets | Spouse keeps FEHB? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full | Reduced 10% | 50% of your unreduced annuity | Yes |
| Partial | Reduced 5% | 25% | Yes |
| None | Not reduced | Nothing | No |
Choosing anything less than full requires your spouse’s consent, signed before a notary. The survivor annuity also gets cost-of-living increases. The deeper rules are in FERS survivor benefit elections.
2. The windows that close
- 30 days after your first regular payment: the only time you can cancel or reduce. Not the interim payments — the first full, final-rate one.
- 18 months after retirement: you can still add or increase it, but it’s expensive — a one-time charge of 24.5% of a year’s annuity to go from none to full, or 12.25% for one step up, plus the missed reductions with interest.
- Marriage after retirement: two years from the wedding to elect for a new spouse.
- Divorce: a court order can require a former-spouse annuity. See gray divorce and the FERS pension.
Miss them, and the choice you made on your retirement application stands for the rest of your life.
3. Calculate your break-even
Totals are in today’s dollars, before COLAs and taxes. Women tend to live longer than men, and wives are often younger, so for many couples the election pays off — before counting FEHB at all.
4. How to weigh it
- FEHB first. If your spouse has no federal coverage of their own, even a partial election protects their health insurance. Losing it is permanent. See survivor FEHB.
- Ages and health. A younger or healthier spouse tilts toward full. See retiring with a younger spouse.
- Their own income. A spouse with a pension and Social Security of their own may need less.
- Life insurance instead? It can replace income, but never FEHB — and premiums rise with age.
- Taxes after a death. A surviving spouse files single. See the widow’s tax penalty.
5. Frequently asked questions
Can I change my FERS survivor annuity election after I retire?
Only briefly. You can cancel or reduce it within 30 days after your first regular monthly annuity payment, with your spouse’s consent. Within 18 months of retirement you can add or increase it, at a one-time cost plus back reductions with interest. After that, the election is permanent, except for a marriage, divorce or death after retirement.
What does a FERS survivor annuity cost?
A full survivor annuity reduces your annuity by 10% and pays your spouse 50% of your unreduced annuity. A partial one reduces it by 5% and pays 25%. Your spouse must consent in writing, before a notary, to anything less than the full amount.
Does the survivor annuity affect my spouse’s FEHB?
Yes. Your spouse can keep FEHB after your death only if they receive a survivor annuity and were covered under your enrollment. Electing no survivor annuity ends their FEHB when you die, permanently.
How long must my spouse outlive me for the survivor annuity to pay off?
Roughly 20% of the years you collect your pension. If you draw your annuity for 25 years, your spouse needs to outlive you by about 5 years for the payments to exceed what you gave up, at either the full or partial level, before counting COLAs or the value of FEHB.