First off, congrats! On retiring, on the flying job, on the grown kids, on the hot blonde (hopefully, she's your wife, otherwise life's about to get REALLY expensive)!

Anyway, I did not do a detailed SBP number crunching, but my thought was to take a multi-pronged approach: life insurance, SBP, savings, social security. No single one will be required to take care of my wife if I die anytime soon, but the combination will allow her to keep a decent lifestyle (she's a stay-at-home homeschooling mom, we have 6 kids, 3 of which are still being homeschooled).

My thoughts on SBP specifically was it's a REALLY expensive life insurance now, but in 20 years, it's a REALLY cheap life insurance that I won't be able to match. So, pay more now for a good deal later (generally, you cannot sign up for it after you've retired. In fact, if you decline it, you and your wife must sign the form acknowledging it.)

I had a friend (O-5) who retired about 8 years ago and did not take SBP. Within a year or two of retiring, he died in an L-39 crash. His wife's comment was that she went from a 6-figure income to about $35k a year.

On the other hand, I had a friend who retired as a 29 year O-6. His SBP payment would be $500+ per month ... not worth it in his financial planner's number crunching.

For me, as a 22 year O-5, I thought it was worth it. It still hurts each month when I look at my retired paycheck, but it will pay my wife $2435.65 per month in income for the rest of her life if I die tomorrow. Assuming she lived another 40 years, that's not too bad.