Q: I plan to retire under CSRS within the next year at age 61 with 40-plus years of service. My husband is under PERS (Public Employee Retirement System) and will continue to work and retire with a PERS retirement annuity. Since he has his own retirement annuity through PERS, is it still a wise decision to leave him a partial survivor annuity? His health insurance will continue into retirement.
A: As long as each of you has entitlement to continued health benefits coverage, it boils down to a comparison between what it would cost you to provide a survivor benefit for your spouse versus what it would yield. Electing a survivor annuity reduces a retiree’s annuity in order to provide additional income for the survivor. Do the math and decide what makes the best sense in your situation.
