Q. If a married couple — both federal employees (GS-14 and GS-15), under CSRS — retired, should they select survivor benefit? Full? I know it’s my decision. Just want your opinion what would you do if one of the employees were you.
A. That’s not the kind of bait that will make this fish bite. The determination of whether spouses should elect survivor annuities for each other requires that they do some basic financial analysis. At a minimum, you need to figure out what your needs will be when you retire. Then you need to consider how much the one who survives will need to be comfortable for the rest of his or her life.
