Survivor Benefit Plan Calculator
STONEBRIDGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
You’ve earned a federal retirement worth understanding clearly. We help federal employees across the Denver metro area coordinate CSRS, FERS, TSP, FEHB, FEGLI, and Social Security into one clear retirement plan, so you can make confident decisions about when to retire, how your income will work, and how to protect the benefits you’ve earned.
Survivor Benefit Plan Calculator
Models the FERS Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) election. Enter your gross monthly pension, choose a base amount election, and see the cost to you, your reduced monthly check, and the monthly survivor annuity your spouse would receive.
- SBP base amount
- $0
- Monthly SBP cost
- $0
- Spouse monthly benefit if you die
- $0
- 30-year SBP cost
- $0
- Paid-up at age
- —
FERS SBP: full-base costs 10% of annuity and provides 50% survivor annuity. CSRS rules differ. Election is irrevocable at retirement, requires spousal consent if not full, and is paid up after 360 months and age 70. For a comparison of SBP against private term life insurance, request a personalized Federal Retirement Report.
How the Survivor Benefit Plan Calculator Works
Enter your gross monthly FERS pension at retirement, choose a Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) base amount election, and the calculator shows three things at once: the SBP cost deducted from your monthly check, your actual take-home pension after that deduction, and the monthly survivor annuity your spouse would receive if you die first.
The math follows the standard FERS SBP rules: cost equals 10% of the base amount, survivor benefit equals 50% of the base amount. Three election levels are modeled here: full base (your entire pension is the base, producing maximum cost and maximum survivor benefit), half base (50% of your pension is the base, cutting both cost and survivor benefit in half), and no SBP.
The half-base option is the most commonly chosen partial election, and it requires written spousal consent if you choose less than the full amount. The SBP election is generally irrevocable once you retire. There is a narrow window in the first year that allows withdrawal, but only with spousal consent and only after you have continued paying premiums. After that window closes the election is permanent.
This calculator is provided as an educational starting point for federal employees in the Denver metro area and across the Colorado Front Range.
For an apples-to-apples comparison of SBP against private term life insurance, a permanent life policy, or a no-coverage scenario built around your spouse’s actual longevity and your other retirement assets, request a personalized Federal Retirement Report.
What Your SBP Election Means
The phrase “federal retirement specialist” gets used loosely. The SBP election is one decision that shapes the next two or three decades of two people’s financial lives. The math on this page is the easy part; the judgment around it is where most federal retirees need help. SBP rules are simple but rigid — but they are not the right people to advise on the FERS Supplement earnings test, the FEHB five-year continuous enrollment rule, the FEGLI premium escalation at 65 and 70, or the Survivor Benefit Plan election trade-offs.
The biggest hidden value of SBP is that it preserves your spouse’s FEHB eligibility after your death. Without SBP, your spouse loses FEHB coverage at the federal retiree rate when you die. We know the OPM forms by number, the retirement application sequence in detail, the difference between an immediate annuity and a deferred annuity, the conditions for an MRA+10 retirement, and how a CSRS Offset employee’s pension is calculated.
We know the Special Retirement Supplement formula and the earnings test rules. We know which TSP withdrawal strategy creates an immediate tax problem and which does not. We know when an SF-50 history needs to be re-pulled and when a Certified Summary of Federal Service is required to lock down a high-3 calculation.
SBP also competes with private term life insurance for the same job: protecting a spouse if you die first. Term life is typically cheaper at age 60 but ends at the term, has no inflation protection, and isn’t tax-advantaged the same way. SBP is more expensive but lasts for life, gets a partial COLA, and continues regardless of your health. The right answer depends on your spouse’s age, your health, and what other assets you’re leaving behind. For federal employees who want a broader educational overview before working through their own plan, our Federal Retirement Workshop is designed to help explain the major benefit programs and retirement decisions in plain language.
Our role is to help federal employees coordinate retirement benefits, income planning, tax strategy, healthcare decisions, and survivor protection into one comprehensive retirement plan so that important decisions are made deliberately rather than by default. Learn more about our approach and what makes Stonebridge Capital Management different.
How We Help Federal Employees Decide About SBP
A Personalized Federal Retirement Roadmap
We bring together your pension, TSP, FEHB, FEGLI, survivor benefits, Social Security, and retirement timing into one coordinated retirement plan.
You’ll see where you stand today, the options available to you, your projected retirement income, and a retirement timeline you can move toward with confidence.
Plain-Language Guidance, Not Sales Pressure
Federal retirement is complicated enough without jargon, sales tactics, or manufactured urgency.
We explain your options clearly, answer your questions honestly, and help you understand the trade-offs before making decisions.
Decisions happen at your pace, not ours.
Colorado-Based Federal Retirement Specialists
Stonebridge is based in the Denver metro area and serves federal employees throughout Colorado’s Front Range.
Meet with us in person at our Inverness office or virtually from anywhere in Colorado.
When questions arise, you’ll have a local team you can reach, not a national call center.
Ready to see how the pieces fit together for your specific situation?
Federal Retirement Topics Beyond the SBP
The federal retirement decisions that drive lasting income are concentrated in a handful of benefit programs. Each has its own complexity, and each matters.
CSRS & FERS Pension Planning
Your federal pension is likely the foundation of your retirement income. Understanding when you can retire, how much income your pension may provide, and how survivor benefit elections affect your family can have a lasting impact on retirement.
We help you evaluate your retirement eligibility, project your pension under different retirement dates, and understand the trade-offs involved in retiring sooner or working longer.
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Strategy
For many federal employees, the TSP is their largest retirement asset. Decisions about investments, withdrawals, Roth conversions, and whether to leave funds in the TSP or move them to an IRA can have a significant impact on retirement income and taxes. We help you evaluate your options, understand the trade-offs, and coordinate your TSP strategy with your pension, Social Security, and overall retirement plan.
FEHB and Medicare Coordination
Your FEHB coverage may be one of the most valuable benefits you carry into retirement. Decisions about Medicare enrollment, which FEHB plan to keep, and how your coverage will work alongside Medicare can have a lasting impact on healthcare costs and coverage. We help you understand your options, evaluate the trade-offs, and make informed decisions about healthcare in retirement.
FEGLI Life Insurance Decisions
The life insurance decisions you make before retirement can have long-term consequences for both cost and coverage. As you age, certain FEGLI premiums can increase significantly, making it important to evaluate your options well before retirement. We help you understand your FEGLI elections, compare costs and benefits, and determine whether maintaining FEGLI, reducing coverage, or exploring private insurance alternatives may better support your family’s goals.
FERS Supplement
For eligible FERS retirees, the FERS Supplement can provide an important source of income between retirement and age 62. Understanding whether you qualify, how much you may receive, and how post-retirement earnings can affect the benefit is an important part of retirement planning. We help you evaluate how the FERS Supplement fits into your overall retirement income strategy and retirement timing decisions.
Survivor Benefit Plan
The survivor benefit election you make at retirement can affect both your retirement income and your spouse’s financial security for years to come. Because these decisions can be difficult or costly to change after retirement, they deserve careful consideration. We help you understand the costs, benefits, and trade-offs involved so you can make an informed decision based on your family’s needs and goals.
Social Security Timing for Federal Retirees
When to claim Social Security is one of the most important retirement income decisions you will make. Claiming earlier provides income sooner, while delaying can increase your monthly benefit for life. We help you evaluate your options and coordinate Social Security with your FERS pension and other income sources to create a retirement income strategy designed around your specific situation.
Frequently Asked Questions About the FERS Survivor Benefit Plan
How does the FERS Survivor Benefit Plan actually work?
At retirement, FERS lets you elect a survivor annuity for your spouse. You pick a base amount — typically your full pension or half of it. The cost is 10% of that base amount, deducted from your monthly pension for life (or until lifetime-deducted at 30 years and age 70). In exchange, if you die first, your spouse receives 50% of the base amount monthly for the rest of their life, plus a partial COLA each year.
What happens to my spouse’s FEHB if I don’t elect SBP?
This is the most important answer most federal retirees don’t know. FEHB is tied to receiving a survivor annuity. If you elect even the smallest SBP base amount, your spouse remains eligible to continue FEHB at retiree premium rates after your death. If you elect NO SBP, your spouse loses FEHB coverage the moment you die — and there is no path to re-enroll them. For a surviving spouse in their 70s or 80s, the FEHB-vs-marketplace premium difference often exceeds the cumulative SBP cost.
Can I cancel SBP after I retire?
Generally no. The election is irrevocable at retirement. There is a narrow withdrawal window between months 25 and 36 after retirement that requires both spouses to agree in writing and forfeits all SBP coverage permanently. After month 36, the election is locked for life. This is why getting the election right at retirement matters so much.
What if my spouse dies before me?
Your SBP cost stops at your spouse’s death — the deduction is removed from your pension and your full annuity is restored going forward. You do not get refunded for past payments. If you remarry, you can elect SBP for the new spouse, but the cost may be higher and there are timing rules to follow.
Is SBP a better deal than buying private term life insurance?
It depends. SBP is lifetime coverage with a partial COLA, no medical underwriting, and predictable cost. Private term life is typically cheaper in your 50s and 60s but ends at the term (often age 75 or 80), has fixed nominal value, and requires medical underwriting. For a healthy 60-year-old federal employee with a younger spouse and 30+ years of likely survivor benefit need, SBP is often the better deal once you factor in the FEHB preservation.
What’s a former-spouse SBP election?
A divorce decree can require you to elect SBP for a former spouse. In that case, you don’t get a choice — the court order dictates the election, you pay the cost, and the survivor annuity goes to the ex-spouse. A new spouse cannot share the same SBP coverage; you would need to elect separately for them with smaller benefit.
Does SBP have a Cost-of-Living Adjustment?
Yes, partially. The SBP survivor annuity receives the same partial FERS COLA your pension would have received — full CPI up to 2%, then a reduced adjustment when CPI runs higher. Over a 20-year survivor period, that COLA meaningfully preserves the real value of the benefit, which is one of SBP’s strongest features compared to private term life insurance (which has zero inflation protection).
Serving Federal Employees Across The Colorado Front Range
Stonebridge is based in the Denver metro area and works with federal employees throughout Colorado’s Front Range.
Our clients serve in a wide range of federal agencies and organizations across the state, including the Denver Federal Center, VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Buckley Space Force Base, the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Mint, NREL, NOAA, NIST, and many others.
We meet with clients in person at our Inverness office and virtually throughout Colorado.
Primary Service Area
Denver · Littleton · Highlands Ranch · Centennial · Lakewood · Englewood · Parker · Castle Rock · Aurora · Arvada · Westminster · Broomfield · Thornton · Wheat Ridge · Golden · Lone Tree
Extended Service Area
Colorado Springs · Boulder · Fort Collins · Loveland · Greeley · Pueblo
Get Your Federal Retirement Report
The Federal Retirement Report is designed to help you understand where you stand today and what decisions may lie ahead. Built around your service history, benefits, and retirement goals, it provides a personalized analysis of your pension, TSP, healthcare benefits, survivor elections, retirement income, and other key planning considerations.
There is no cost and no obligation. It is simply a practical way to gain clarity before making important retirement decisions.