What percentage of retirement pay does SBP cost?

SBP premiums are 6.5% of the covered base amount per month, deducted from your retirement pay before taxes.

How much does a surviving spouse receive from SBP?

A surviving spouse receives 55% of the covered base amount per month, adjusted annually for cost-of-living increases.

Can you receive both SBP and DIC?

Yes. As of 2023, the SBP-DIC offset has been fully eliminated. Surviving spouses now receive both SBP annuity and VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation concurrently with no reduction.

What happens if I don't elect SBP at retirement?

If you decline SBP at retirement and do not have your spouse's notarized consent, your election is void. There are rare open seasons and a one-year window if you marry after retirement, but outside those windows there is no way to enroll later.

SBP is generally worth it when: there is a significant age gap between the retiree and spouse, the spouse has no other pension or income, the family has no substantial life insurance, and there is a history of longevity. Run the breakeven calculation — if the spouse is expected to outlive the retiree by more than 10-12 years, SBP typically pays out more than premiums paid.

●InvestigationsCongress made VA disability claims free to file. An entire industry charges veterans anyway — and nobody can stop them.→

Retirement Tools

SBP Decision Calculator

Survivor Benefit Plan is one of the biggest financial decisions you make at retirement. Run the actual numbers — cost, annuity, and how many years your spouse needs to collect before it breaks even.

Educational tool, not financial advice. Consult a military financial advisor or fee-only CFP before making this election. Once made, SBP elections are generally irrevocable.

Your Retirement Situation

Monthly Gross Retirement Pay

Covered Base Amount (default: full retirement pay)

Your Current Age

Spouse's Current Age

Estimated Tax Bracket

SBP premiums are pre-tax, so your actual after-tax cost is lower than the sticker price.

What Is SBP?

The Survivor Benefit Plan is a government-subsidized annuity program that continues a portion of your military retirement pay to your surviving spouse after your death. Think of it as life insurance funded through a monthly deduction from your retirement check — except that unlike commercial life insurance, SBP payments adjust with COLA every year and never expire.

You pay 6.5% of your covered base amount every month, pre-tax, for up to 30 years (360 months). After 30 years of paid-up premiums and reaching age 70, coverage continues at no additional cost. Your spouse receives 55% of the covered base amount — also COLA-adjusted — for the rest of their life.

Who Should Seriously Consider SBP

Significant age gap with spouse

If your spouse is substantially younger, they may outlive you by decades. SBP is inflation-protected income they cannot outlive.

Spouse with limited independent income

If your spouse did not build their own career, pension, or Social Security record, your retirement pay may be their primary income source.

No other large life insurance or savings

If you lack substantial TSP, investments, or commercial life insurance to replace lost retirement income, SBP fills that gap.

Family history of longevity

The longer your spouse lives after you, the more they collect. Long family longevity on both sides makes SBP increasingly favorable.

Who Might Skip SBP

Large investment portfolio or TSP balance

If you have enough invested that a 4% withdrawal rate replaces your retirement pay, the spouse may not need SBP.

Spouse has their own pension

If your spouse has substantial independent retirement income, the income replacement argument for SBP weakens considerably.

Short marriage or blended family complications

SBP must be elected to a current spouse. Complex family situations may make commercial life insurance more flexible.

Spouse has serious health conditions

If your spouse has a significantly shortened life expectancy, SBP may not reach breakeven. A frank conversation with a financial advisor is important.

SBP and DIC: The Law Changed in 2023

For years, surviving spouses who received VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) — paid to survivors of veterans who died from service-connected causes — had their SBP annuity reduced dollar-for-dollar by the DIC amount. This "widow's tax" forced survivors to choose between the two benefits.

That offset is gone. Fully phased out as of January 1, 2023. SBP-DIC Concurrent Receipt means surviving spouses now receive both the full SBP annuity and the full DIC payment simultaneously, with no reduction.

For veterans with service-connected disabilities, this dramatically changes the SBP value proposition. If your death is likely to be ruled service-connected, your spouse could receive both SBP (from the premiums you paid) and DIC (tax-free, ~$1,650/month base in 2026) concurrently. This makes SBP election significantly more favorable for disabled veterans than it was before 2023.

Election Rules You Need to Know

01SBP must be elected at the time of retirement. Your default, if married, is full SBP coverage — you must actively decline or reduce it.

02Spouses must concur in writing if you elect less than full coverage or decline entirely. The military requires their signature acknowledging the decision.

03If you marry after retirement, you have one year from the wedding date to elect SBP for your new spouse.

04Open seasons allowing changes outside normal windows are extremely rare — Congress has authorized fewer than five in the program's history.

05Coverage is paid up after 360 months (30 years) of premiums, provided you are at least age 70. After that, coverage continues free.

06SBP terminates if your surviving spouse remarries before age 55. It can be reinstated if that remarriage ends.