Pension Survivor Options

The story: Walt picks a pension option

Walt and Grace read a pension form together, weighing a bigger check now against a check that keeps paying Grace later.

1. Narrator: Walt is choosing how the pension will pay. The form lists several options, and the choice can’t be undone once checks start.
2. Walt: Single-life pays the most: $1,500 a month (example). Why would anyone take less?
3. Narrator: Because single-life stops when Walt dies. Grace would get nothing more from it.
4. Narrator: A joint-and-survivor option pays less, $1,300 a month (example), and keeps paying Grace after Walt dies.
5. Grace: And the plan needs my signed OK before Walt can pick single-life?
6. Narrator: Yes. For most private plans, the law requires a spouse’s signed consent to give up survivor protection.
7. Narrator: The bigger check now can mean no check for your spouse later.

What you’ll learn

1. Single-life: most now, nothing after

   A single-life pension pays the largest monthly check, but it stops when the retiree dies. It can fit a single person, or a couple where the spouse has plenty of other income. This lesson matters most for married people with a pension.

2. Joint-and-survivor: less now, protection later

   A joint-and-survivor option pays a smaller check while both spouses are alive, then keeps paying the survivor a share, such as half or all of it (examples). The bigger the share, the smaller the check now.

   Example: single-life $1,500; joint with half to the survivor $1,400; joint with all to the survivor $1,300.

3. Spousal consent and pop-ups

   Most private plans need the spouse’s signed, witnessed consent to choose single-life. A pop-up option raises the check back to the single-life amount if the spouse dies first. It costs a little more in the meantime.

4. Careful with “pension max”

   Some sales pitches say: take single-life and buy life insurance to protect your spouse. It can work, but only if the policy pays enough, stays in force for life and costs less than the survivor option. Run the numbers with someone who isn’t selling the policy.

Key words

single-life annuity

a pension for one person only

joint and survivor

a pension that keeps paying a spouse

spousal consent

the law’s protection for spouses

pop-up

a raise back to the full check if the spouse dies first

Common questions

We already chose single-life. What still matters?

No blame. What still matters: making sure the spouse has enough from savings, Social Security and any life insurance, and that the beneficiary forms on every account are up to date.

I’m single. Do I need this lesson?

Not much. Single-life usually pays a single person the most. The ideas help if you marry later or plan for someone who depends on you.

Remember this

The bigger check now can mean no check for your spouse later.

Try it: See what a survivor would get

1. Find your pension’s survivor options and the monthly amount for each.
2. For each option, write what a spouse or other survivor would get after your death.
3. If you’re married, talk the choice through together before anyone signs.

No account: use the public Retirement Calculator (/tools/retirement-calculator).

Live facts

Numbers that change over time, with when they were last checked and where they come from.

• Your pension rights, including survivor benefits and spousal consent

  Source: DOL.gov (EBSA)(opens in a new tab)