Q. I am A CSRS employee who is retiring Dec. 31 and wish to elect a partial annuity for my husband. He’s a retired civil service employee and receives his own pension. We’ve decided that about 25 percent of my annuity would be sufficient for him. However, on the Application for Immediate Retirement Form, Section F, it seems that I can only elect 55 percent of a fixed dollar amount. If I do this, say 55 percent of 50,000 per year ($27,500), would this amount still be indexed for future cost-of-living adjustments, or would it always remain at $27,500? I’ve asked the retirement branch at my agency, and they don’t know. I’ve also researched all of the Office of Personnel Management documentation and can’t find this addressed, either.
A. If your spouse agrees to a lesser amount in writing, you can elect any dollar amount you want him to receive. If you predecease him, he will receive that amount increased by any cost-of-living adjustments that have been applied to your own annuity since you retired. From that point forward, his survivor annuity will be increased by future COLAs, just as yours would have been.
