My husband has to make this decision in a few days, as he is retiring by the end of this month. If he chooses 50% survivor, his pension would be only $129 less per month, and I would get $833/mon upon his death. The issue is, I do NOT need his pension. Mine is $38,000/year, going up $1000 each year. We have 1.1 m in 401k/savings. Even though I don't need it, it bothers me to give up half his pension, which will cost us around $1500/year. We just turned 61. We have no survivors and our estate will go to charity. He will collect SS at 62, but I plan to wait until 66.