It really wasn't a question of whether to provide a survivor annuity, just whether to go with a 25% or 50%. In order for my wife to be covered under my Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) policy, I had to choose a survivor annuity. She was not working outside the home when I retired so we wanted her to have health insurance without having to have a separate policy. I retired at 55 (wife was 50). Just knowing she would have a steady income stream for life (even if I died before her) and health insurance gave me peace of mind even if it means having less income coming in each month.
I understand and completely agree. I think you understood where I was coming from too, but so many professionals retire from their first career, are great candidates, and never consider or hear about the pension max concept. I wanted our fellow Dawgs reading this to at least know about the concept if they didn't already.
Good choice in my book. Several years ago I had a couple that the husband had a nice federal pension from having worked his entire career for the government. He was in excellent health while his wife had a lifetime history of a chronic health problem that would likely mean a shorter lifespan than his. She had never worked outside the home and had built up no Social Security credit. He had taken the option of the higher pension for his lifetime.
One of the toughest conversations I ever had was with the spouse and her kids a week or so after the husband, in his late 50's, suddenly & unexpectedly passed. There was nothing that could be done. She ended up having to sell her very modest home and move in with one of her children.
Often people never realize the value of a bullet dodged but clearly you get it. You've bought your entire family a tremendous amount of peace of mind and security. My hat's off to you.
My dad left my mom "high and dry." He had railroad retirement (Southern RR Co.) and when he retired in 1983 selected the higher payment with no, zero, nada survivors' benefits. The difference in the monthly payout was minimal. We just remembered the anniversary of his death in 1988. For the past 30 years my mom has done okay, but she worked up to 5 years ago, when at the age of 82, she retired from the hospital where she had worked for 25 years.
When I started drawing retirement from IP, I selected survivors' benefit for my wife. She will draw my IP retirement to the day she passes. I was not going to do to her what my dad did to my mom. Of course, I'm sure that RR pension fund appreciates it. For the past 30 years they have paid out NOTHING!
Not that my wife needs* it, she has done very well in her professional career. It's more the principle of the matter.
*we do have a diverse investment portfolio...besides retirement
my English failed me there.....truth about what kind of person he is / became. I'll be the first to admit, I thought he was the Tech WBB savior at first....I knew that sweet 16s would be an annual occurrence again under his leadership....boy, was I wrong. That said, we all make mistake - his mistake was magnified because 1.) he had sex with a player 2.) media was relentless 3) his mother that is known world wide
I hope and pray I don't make mistakes as big as he made.....but I am human and weak.......as we all are. Never say you would "never" be involved in something like that....it happens and it will continue to happen. The biggest thing is to surround yourself with high quality individuals what you can help support and they can help support you. I think Tyler was isolated and lost what support he had...and it led to some horrendous decisions.