SBP Calculator — Military Survivor Benefit Plan 2026

Work out the 6.5% SBP premium against the 55% survivor annuity on your retired pay. Shows net retired pay, total premiums to the 360-month paid-up point, and the survivor break-even.

By Konstantin Iakovlev · Updated August 2026 · Source: Military Compensation — Survivor Benefit Program Costs and Benefits

$
Coverage Level

Monthly Premium

$195.00

Survivor Monthly Annuity

$1,650.00

Your Net Retired Pay

$2,805.00

How the Election Works Out

Base amount covered$3,000.00
Premium rate (spouse coverage)6.5%
Survivor receives55%
Premiums until paid-up (360 months)$70,200.00
Survivor total over 20 years$396,000.00
Survivor break-even43 months of annuity

Premiums come out of retired pay before tax; the survivor annuity is taxable income to them. Premiums stop after 360 paid months once you are also 70 or older, and coverage continues for life. Child-only and spouse-plus-child elections use age-based premiums, not this flat 6.5%.

Use the SBP Calculator — Military Survivor Benefit Plan 2026 above to calculate your results. Enter your values and see instant results — all calculations run in your browser.

Disclaimer: This calculator is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, financial, or legal advice. Results are estimates based on the information you provide and current rates. Always consult a qualified tax professional or financial advisor for advice specific to your situation.

How It Works

Electing the Survivor Benefit Plan is the last large money decision most service members make before they retire, and it turns on a single number: the base amount. That is the slice of retired pay you choose to insure, and every other figure follows from it. This calculator takes your gross retired pay, the base amount you want covered, and how long you expect a survivor to collect, then shows the monthly premium, the annuity a spouse would receive, and what your retired pay actually looks like once the premium is withheld.

The two rates are fixed by statute. Spouse coverage costs 6.5% of the elected base amount, and the survivor annuity pays 55% of that same base. Both are percentages of the base, not of your gross retired pay, which is why a reduced election lowers the premium and the annuity in lockstep. The base itself is bounded at $300 on the low side and your full gross retired pay on the high side. Enter a figure outside that range and the calculator clamps it and tells you it did, because an election under the floor or over the ceiling is not one the services will accept.

Two rows on the results table look well past a single month. The first is what you would pay in total before the coverage becomes paid up. Premiums stop once you have paid for 360 months and have also turned 70, and coverage then continues for life at no further cost, so unlike most insurance the premium column has an end date. The second is the survivor break-even: how many months of annuity it takes to recover every premium dollar. That figure lands on 43 months whatever base amount you choose, because the premium and the annuity both scale with the base and the ratio between them never moves.

Two things the tool deliberately leaves alone. Premiums are withheld from retired pay before tax while the annuity is taxable income to whoever receives it, so the on-screen comparison is pre-tax on both sides and your own marginal rates will shift the real answer. And it models spouse coverage only: child-only and spouse-plus-child premiums are set from the ages of the people covered rather than a flat 6.5%, and the annual COLA that lifts the annuity lifts the base amount and the premium along with it. Rather than guess at either, the figures hold today's dollars constant on both sides, which keeps the premium-to-annuity ratio honest even though both numbers grow over time.

Example: A Reduced Base Amount on $6,400 of Retired Pay

  1. 1 Input: gross retired pay of $6,400 a month. Rather than insure all of it, the retiree elects a reduced base amount of $4,500, and expects a surviving spouse to collect for 22 years.
  2. 2 Monthly figures: the premium is 6.5% of the $4,500 base, or $292.50. The survivor annuity is 55% of the same base, or $2,475.00. Retired pay after the deduction is $6,400.00 - $292.50 = $6,107.50.
  3. 3 Long-run figures: premiums run to the 360-month paid-up point at $292.50 x 360 = $105,300.00. A spouse collecting for 22 years receives $2,475.00 x 12 x 22 = $653,400.00. Break-even is $105,300.00 / $2,475.00 = 42.5, so 43 months of annuity covers every premium ever paid.
  4. 4 Context: electing $4,500 instead of the full $6,400 cuts the premium from $416.00 to $292.50 and the annuity from $3,520.00 to $2,475.00. The 43-month break-even does not budge, because both sides move together. The base amount decides how much protection you buy, not how good the bargain is.

Source: Military Compensation — Survivor Benefit Program Costs and Benefits · Last updated: August 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does SBP cost per month?
Spouse coverage costs 6.5% of the base amount you elect, withheld from retired pay each month. On a $4,500 base that is $292.50. The rate applies to the base amount rather than to your gross retired pay, so electing less than full coverage lowers the premium in proportion.
How much will my survivor actually receive?
The annuity is 55% of the elected base amount, paid monthly for the rest of the survivor's life. A $4,500 base pays a surviving spouse $2,475 a month. It is taxable income to them, and it receives the same annual cost-of-living adjustment as Social Security.
What is the smallest base amount I can elect?
The statutory floor is $300 a month and the ceiling is your full gross retired pay. A $300 base costs $19.50 a month and pays a survivor $165. If your gross retired pay is itself below $300, the base amount is simply your full retired pay.
When do SBP premiums stop?
Once you have paid premiums for 360 months (30 years) and have also reached age 70. Both conditions have to be met, so a retiree who starts paying at 38 reaches 360 months at 68 but keeps paying until 70. After that the coverage is paid up: nothing further comes out of retired pay and the annuity stays in force for life.
How long must a survivor collect before SBP returns what I paid in?
43 months, and it is 43 months at every base amount. Premiums to the paid-up point come to 6.5% x 360 = 23.4 months' worth of the base, while the annuity pays 55% of the base each month, so 23.4 / 0.55 = 42.5 months, rounded up to 43. Because both sides scale with the base, choosing a larger or smaller election does not change the break-even.
Is the SBP premium tax-deductible?
It is treated better than a deduction. The premium is withheld from retired pay before tax, so it never enters your taxable income in the first place and you get the benefit whether or not you itemize. The trade-off is on the other side: the survivor annuity is fully taxable to the person who receives it.
Does this calculator cover child coverage or future COLA increases?
No, in both cases on purpose. Child-only and spouse-plus-child premiums are set from the ages of the people covered rather than the flat 6.5% used for spouse coverage, so applying one rate to them would produce a wrong number. Annual COLA is left out because it raises the base amount, the premium and the annuity together, which leaves the comparison shown here accurate in today's dollars.

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