FERS Survivor Benefit Election Cost Calculator

FERS survivor elections

When you retire under FERS, you must elect how much of your annuity your surviving spouse will receive after you die. There are three options: full, partial, and none. The election is made at retirement and is generally irrevocable after a 30-day open period, so understanding the trade-offs beforehand is critical.

Full vs. partial vs. none

The full election provides your surviving spouse with 50% of your unreduced annuity — the amount you would have received before any reduction. Your own annuity is reduced by 10% to fund this.

The partial election is a fixed 25% survivor benefit, not a variable amount. Your annuity is reduced by 5%. You cannot elect a different partial percentage — it is always 25%/5%.

The none electioncarries no cost to your annuity, but eliminates all survivor protection, including — critically — your spouse's ability to continue FEHB health coverage after your death.

The cost to your annuity

The reduction applies to your unreduced annuity, not to any COLA-adjusted amount, so the real-dollar cost grows over time as your annuity receives COLAs. A 10% reduction on a $40,000 annuity is $4,000 per year today — but as COLAs compound, the absolute dollar cost grows proportionally.

Spouses should weigh the annual cost against the risk it insures: decades of survivor income and continuation of health coverage that would otherwise end the day you die.

Why the survivor election controls your spouse's FEHB

Federal retirees enrolled in FEHB can continue their health coverage in retirement as long as they were enrolled for the five years before retirement. When the retiree dies, the surviving spousecan continue FEHB — but only if they are receiving a survivor annuity. No survivor annuity means no continued FEHB, full stop. At typical retirement ages, replacing employer-sponsored health coverage can cost a surviving spouse $15,000–$25,000 per year or more on the private market. This hidden consequence of the "none" election is the single most important thing this calculator surfaces.