Federal Survivor Benefits Decision Workbook | 2026 Professional Planning Edition

Your federal retirement decision does not affect only you. The survivor benefit election you make can have a lasting impact on the people who depend on you.

The Federal Survivor Benefits Decision Workbook is a 10-page planning resource designed to help federal employees understand, compare, document, and verify important survivor benefit decisions before retirement.

It brings the financial tradeoffs, spouse survivor options, FEHB considerations, beneficiary planning, and special circumstances together so you can make a more informed decision with your family.

INSIDE THE WORKBOOK:

• Household survivor protection assessment
• FERS spouse survivor election comparison
• Maximum survivor annuity review
• Partial survivor annuity review
• No-survivor-annuity considerations
• 50% and 25% survivor benefit comparison
• 10% and 5% annuity reduction planning
• Estimated retiree annuity comparison
• Estimated survivor income comparison
• Spousal consent considerations
• FEHB survivor coverage review
• Family health coverage considerations
• Former-spouse and court-order review
• Divorce and property-settlement considerations
• Insurable-interest survivor benefit review
• Household financial tradeoff worksheet
• Life insurance and other survivor resources
• TSP and FEGLI beneficiary review
• Social Security survivor benefit considerations
• Beneficiary and protection inventory
• Final survivor election decision log
• Official authority and verification sources

BUILT AROUND FOUR IMPORTANT STEPS:

UNDERSTAND
Learn what the major survivor benefit elections may mean for your retirement income and your survivor.

COMPARE
Evaluate the potential income tradeoffs between maximum, partial, and no spouse survivor annuity.

DOCUMENT
Bring together your survivor goals, FEHB considerations, beneficiary information, and other household protection resources.

VERIFY
Identify questions that should be confirmed with the appropriate agency or qualified professional before your retirement election becomes final.

WHO THIS IS FOR:

Federal employees approaching retirement who want to understand how their survivor benefit election may affect their retirement income, spouse or family, FEHB coverage, and overall household protection plan.

FORMAT:

• 10-page digital PDF
• Printable
• Designed for personal federal retirement planning
• 2026 Professional Planning Edition
• Immediate digital download

Retirement planning should not stop with your lifetime.

Understand the election. Measure the tradeoff. Protect the people who depend on you.

IMPORTANT:

This is an independent educational and organizational resource. It is not an official government publication and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any federal agency. It does not provide legal, tax, investment, financial, estate-planning, or individualized retirement advice. Survivor benefits and court-order issues can be fact-specific. Final eligibility, election validity, benefit amounts, FEHB continuation, and retirement processing are determined by the responsible authorities under applicable law and regulation.