Originally Posted by
a300fr8dog
JJ & Flyin:
Thanks VERY much for the info. I've heard the "book" answer is for administrators to suggest the generic joint survivor annuity. Good to hear this worked in your favor, especially with the history (JJ). Again, thanks for sharing this.
Cheers.
You are welcome. We are all in this together.
The factor that determines your survivor benefit cost is the difference in your age and your spouse's age. In my case she is 6 years younger than me so they wanted just over 24% to leave her 100% of the pension amount and just over 14% for the 50% benefit. Your individual worksheet from Mercer will show you your costs. I started to request retirement estimates about three years before I retired. You can put the request in about March (that will make sure that last years earnings are included) and tell them you are going to retire on 30 November of that year. Takes about 4 weeks for the estimate to show up. The percentages will be close but they do change every year as you and your spouse age.
At least you will have some fairly accurate information to start your research.