Clear Money Guide
What this guide covers
A quick view of the questions and evidence developed below.
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Updated July 30, 2026. Quick answer: The single-life annuity pays more each month and stops at your death. The joint and survivor form pays less and continues to your spouse. The reduction is a premium — you are buying an income that begins if you die first, and the plan is charging you for it out of every monthly payment. Framed that way the question is not which number is bigger, it is whether your household needs that insurance and whether the plan is a competitive place to buy it.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Arkansas LOPFI benefit payment options and Kansas KPERS joint-survivor options.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: UCRP service credit purchase, UCRP disability income and South Carolina PORS return to work on disability.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Vermont VSERS employment after retirement, Vermont VSERS disability retirement and Vermont VSERS early retirement.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Arkansas ATRS working after retirement, Nebraska NPERS reemployment after retirement and Nebraska NPERS early retirement.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Ohio SERS reemployment after retirement, Ohio SERS disability benefits and Ohio SERS purchasable service credit.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: North Carolina LGERS working after retirement, North Carolina LGERS disability retirement and North Carolina LGERS service credit.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Maine PERS service credit purchase, Maine PERS disability retirement and Maine PERS working after retirement.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Nevada PERS service credit purchase, Nevada PERS working after retirement and Nevada PERS disability retirement.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: LACERS service credit purchases, LACERS disability retirement and LACERS retirement payment options.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Montana PERS purchase of service, Montana PERS disability retirement and Montana PERS working after retirement.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: NHRS working after retirement, NHRS divorce and QDRO and NHRS accidental disability retirement.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: PA SERS return to service, PA SERS domestic relations orders and PA SERS disability retirement.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: NJ PFRS divorce court orders.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Indiana 1977 Fund DROP, Indiana 1977 Fund disability retirement and Indiana 1977 Fund reemployment.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Mississippi PERS COLA, Mississippi PERS disability retirement and Illinois SERS early retirement and increases.
More examples of the survivor rules: Louisiana LSERS retirement decisions, Missouri MPERS retirement decisions, Arkansas LOPFI retirement decisions, Arizona CORP retirement decisions, Oklahoma OPPRS retirement decisions, DC police and firefighters retirement decisions, Iowa MFPRSI retirement decisions, Oklahoma OLERS retirement decisions and Kentucky SPRS retirement decisions.
More examples of the survivor rules: Kentucky CERS retirement decisions, South Dakota SDRS retirement decisions, Louisiana LASERS retirement decisions, South Carolina PORS retirement decisions, Indiana 1977 Fund retirement decisions, Louisiana Sheriffs’ Pension retirement decisions, Louisiana Parochial Employees’ Retirement decisions, North Dakota TFFR retirement decisions and Oklahoma Firefighters Pension retirement decisions.
More IRS forms and schedules, read line by line: Form W-4P instructions.
More examples of the survivor rules: NYC TRS retirement decisions, Michigan MERS retirement decisions, Colorado FPPA retirement decisions, Connecticut MERS retirement decisions and Georgia PSERS retirement decisions.
More examples of the survivor rules: Norfolk County Retirement System decisions, Bristol County Retirement System decisions and Cambridge Retirement System decisions.
More examples of the survivor rules: Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System decisions, Maryland LEOPS retirement decisions, Middlesex County Retirement System decisions, Worcester Regional Retirement System decisions and Louisiana Firefighters Retirement System decisions.
More examples of the survivor rules: Minnesota PERA Police and Fire retirement decisions, Washington LEOFF retirement decisions, Louisiana MPERS retirement decisions, San Antonio Fire and Police pension decisions, Austin Police Retirement System decisions and Pennsylvania PMRS retirement decisions.
More city examples of the survivor rules: LAFPP retirement decisions, Houston firefighters retirement decisions, Kansas City school retirement decisions, Tampa fire and police pension decisions and Atlanta firefighters pension decisions.
More city examples of the survivor rules: Portland FPDR retirement decisions, Wichita Employees’ Retirement System decisions, Detroit police and fire retirement decisions, Baltimore fire and police retirement decisions and Jacksonville police and fire pension decisions.
More city and county examples of the survivor rules: Cincinnati Retirement System decisions, St. Louis Employees Retirement System decisions, Kansas City employees retirement decisions, Metro Nashville pension decisions, Memphis city retirement decisions and Montgomery County Maryland retirement decisions.
More city and county examples of the survivor rules: Oklahoma City ERS retirement decisions, Tampa general employees retirement decisions, Tulare County TCERA retirement decisions, StanCERA retirement decisions, SJCERA retirement decisions, SBCERS retirement decisions and Imperial County retirement decisions.
More city and county examples of the survivor rules: Chicago police PABF retirement decisions, Chicago firefighters FABF retirement decisions, Chicago Laborers’ Fund retirement decisions, Fort Worth ERF retirement decisions, Atlanta general employees pension decisions, Jacksonville general employees pension decisions, Miami FIPO retirement decisions and Sonoma County SCERA retirement decisions.
More city and county examples of the survivor options: San Francisco SFERS retirement decisions, Chicago teachers CTPF retirement decisions, Milwaukee ERS retirement decisions, Fairfax County ERS retirement decisions, VCERA retirement decisions, KCERA retirement decisions and Boston Retirement System decisions.
More city and county examples of the survivor options: Houston HPOPS retirement decisions, Philadelphia pension retirement decisions, Detroit GRS retirement decisions, Baltimore ERS retirement decisions, Sacramento SCERS retirement decisions, CCCERA retirement decisions, FCERA retirement decisions and SamCERA retirement decisions.
More city and county examples of the survivor options: Phoenix COPERS retirement decisions, Austin COAERS retirement decisions, Dallas ERF retirement decisions, Dallas DPFP retirement decisions, Chicago MEABF retirement decisions, SBCERA retirement decisions and ACERA retirement decisions.
City and county system examples of the survivor options: SDCERS retirement decisions, SDCERA retirement decisions, Denver DERP retirement decisions, Seattle SCERS retirement decisions and Houston HMEPS retirement decisions.
Estimate a Wisconsin Retirement System benefit from age, service and final average earnings: WRS retirement calculator.
Estimate a CalSTRS benefit from age, service credit and final compensation: CalSTRS retirement calculator.
Estimate a PSERS annuity from class, service and final average salary: PSERS retirement calculator.
Public-system examples of the survivor options and their reductions: Mississippi PERS retirement decisions, Ohio Police & Fire retirement decisions, Illinois SERS retirement decisions and Nebraska NPERS retirement decisions.
Public-system examples of the survivor options and their reductions: Montana TRS retirement decisions, Delaware state pension retirement decisions, Vermont VSERS and VSTRS retirement decisions and New Jersey PFRS retirement decisions.
Public-system examples of the survivor options and their reductions: Hawaii ERS retirement decisions, Michigan MPSERS retirement decisions, Rhode Island ERSRI retirement decisions, Massachusetts state retirement decisions and North Carolina LGERS retirement decisions.
Public-system examples of the survivor options and their reductions: West Virginia PERS and TRS retirement decisions, Alaska PERS and TRS retirement decisions, NDPERS retirement decisions, Montana PERS retirement decisions and MainePERS retirement decisions.
Public-system examples of the survivor options and their reductions: Missouri LAGERS retirement decisions, SERS of Ohio retirement decisions, OCERS retirement decisions, LACERS retirement decisions and NHRS retirement decisions.
Public-system examples of the survivor options and their reductions: ERS Georgia retirement decisions, Arkansas ATRS retirement decisions and PSPRS retirement decisions.
Public-system examples of the survivor options and their reductions: KPERS retirement decisions, Minnesota MSRS retirement decisions, UCRP retirement decisions and Arkansas APERS retirement decisions.
A Nevada example, with seven options and a spousal consent rule written into the statute: Nevada PERS retirement decisions.
One public-pension version of the choice, from IMRF’s Reversionary Annuity: IMRF retirement decisions.
What the law requires the plan to hand you
IRC §401(a)(11) conditions plan qualification on providing a qualified joint and survivor annuity, and IRC §417(a)(1)(A) gives the participant the right to “elect at any time during the applicable election period to waive the qualified joint and survivor annuity form of benefit”, to elect a qualified optional survivor annuity instead, and to “revoke any such election at any time during the applicable election period.” Two structural facts follow, and both matter more than they sound.
The survivor form is the default and the single-life form is the waiver. The statute is not neutral between them: getting the higher monthly figure requires an affirmative election plus your spouse’s consent in the form §417(a)(2) specifies. And the right to revoke runs only through the applicable election period — the flexibility in §417(a)(1)(A)(iii) is real, and it has an expiry.
The election, read as a purchase
| Single life | Joint and survivor | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly amount | Higher | Lower — and the gap is the premium |
| What stops at your death | Everything | Nothing, up to the survivor percentage the plan states |
| Who bears the risk that you die first | Your spouse | The plan |
| Requires spousal consent to elect | Yes — it is the waiver | No — it is the default form |
| Reversible | Only within the applicable election period | |
Coordinate this with the rest of your retirement plan
A pension election is usually a one-time choice you cannot revisit, and an adviser can weigh it against your other income, your spouse’s position and how long the money has to last, though that does not replace the numbers in your own plan documents.
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The three facts that decide it, none of which are the monthly numbers
Whether your spouse has independent income. A spouse with their own pension and their own Social Security record needs less insurance than a spouse who spent those years out of the paid workforce. This is a household balance-sheet question, and it is answerable before you look at the election form.
Relative health and age, honestly assessed. The premium buys protection against one specific sequence — you dying first. The less likely that sequence, the worse the purchase, and there is no way to make that assessment tactful.
What the same protection costs elsewhere. The plan is one seller of survivor income and not necessarily the cheapest. The honest comparison is the reduction the plan is charging against what the same protection would cost bought separately — and that comparison needs a real quote rather than an assumption in either direction.
The comparison error that quietly decides most of these. People compare the lump-sum offer against the single-life monthly figure, because it is the largest number on the page. If your household actually needs the survivor form, that is a comparison against a benefit you were never going to elect. Run the break-even against the figure you would truly have taken.
The asymmetry that should drive the decision. Take the monthly annuity and you can generally change your mind about how to SPEND it but not about whether to have taken it. Take the lump sum and the monthly benefit is gone. Pension elections are made once, at a stated annuity starting date, and the plan is not obliged to let you unwind one afterwards. That is why the questions worth the most attention are the ones on this page rather than the projected-return arithmetic — the arithmetic can be redone next year, and the election cannot.
Sources
IRC §417(a)(1)(A) and §417(a)(3)(A) for the written explanation; IRC §417(a)(2) for the consent conditions; IRC §401(a)(11). Retrieved from the United States Code, July 2026.
This states what the cited authority says. It is not tax, legal or investment advice. A pension election turns on your own plan document, your own health and marital situation, and figures your plan must give you in writing — and this site states no conversion factor and no break-even age, because both are specific to your plan and a borrowed number is worse than none. The monthly IRS segment rates are public and are on their own page.
Related
Guides › Pension and Annuity Decisions
If the money is in the TSP, the rulebook is its own: the 10% penalty turns on the year you separated, not your age when you withdraw, and that exception does not survive a rollover to an IRA. What keeping it or moving it costs puts the difference in dollars.
If the pension is a federal one, the rulebook is its own: what the FERS annuity actually comes to (1% a year, 1.1% at 62 with 20 years, less five-twelfths of a percent for every full month under 62), and the separation choice that decides whether federal health insurance survives it.
If the pension is a military one: retired pay is 2.5% or 2.0% a year of your high-3, and Guard service divides points by 360 — and the survivor election has a statutory price rather than an insurer’s: what SBP costs and what it buys.
There is a third option this comparison does not contain: take the single-life pension and buy life insurance to cover the survivor instead. It works only under conditions worth checking before anyone sells it to you — the policy has to outlive the pensioner, and the premium is not the whole cost.