A plain-language guide for Washington law enforcement officers approaching retirement.
The LEOFF 2 survivor option is a provision that allows a retiring officer to elect a reduced monthly pension in exchange for a continuing benefit paid to a surviving spouse after the officer's death. The reduction is permanent and begins on the first day of retirement — not at the officer's death.
There are three standard survivor options available to LEOFF 2 members at retirement: a 50% continuance, a 66.67% continuance, and a 100% continuance. Each provides a different level of ongoing income to a surviving spouse, and each carries a different actuarial reduction to the officer's monthly benefit.
Lowest reduction to officer's monthly benefit
Mid-level reduction and survivor income
Highest survivor income, largest monthly reduction
The monthly reduction applied to your pension when you elect a survivor option is calculated by the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems using actuarial tables. The reduction is based on your age at retirement, your spouse's age, and the level of survivor continuance you select.
The key point most officers miss: the reduction starts immediately and is permanent regardless of whether your spouse ever receives a benefit. If you retire at 55, elect the 100% survivor option, and your spouse predeceases you at 70, you will have paid a permanent monthly reduction for 15 years with no surviving spouse ever collecting a benefit.
This is not an argument against the survivor option. It is the actuarial reality that every officer needs to understand before making the election.
Every survivor option election has a break-even point — the age at which the cumulative value of the survivor benefit received by a surviving spouse equals the cumulative income the officer gave up through the monthly reduction.
For a typical LEOFF 2 retirement scenario, the break-even point for a 100% survivor option falls somewhere between 10 and 18 years after the officer's death, depending on the specific benefit amounts involved. This means the survivor option only becomes mathematically advantageous to the household if the surviving spouse lives long enough past the officer's death to collect more than was given up in monthly reductions.
This calculation is not provided by the DRS estimator. It requires a private scenario analysis. And it is one of the most important numbers a retiring officer can have before signing the retirement form.
Typical break-even window after officer's death
What DRS provides for break-even analysis