FEGLI Premium & Coverage Calculator (2026)

Enter your salary, age, and current FEGLI option elections. The calculator shows your exact coverage amounts and biweekly premiums — and projects how your Option B premiums will escalate as you age toward retirement. The Option B cost trap is the most expensive FEGLI planning mistake federal employees make.

Understanding each FEGLI option

Basic insurance: the foundation

All enrolled employees have Basic insurance unless they waived it at hire. Coverage equals your annual basic pay rounded up to the nearest $1,000, plus $2,000. At $107,400 in salary, your Basic coverage is $110,000 ($108,000 rounded up + $2,000).

You pay $0.16 biweekly per $1,000 of coverage — the only FEGLI premium where the government shares in the cost.¹ The government contributes an additional amount equal to approximately 2× your share (covering roughly 2/3 of the total actuarial cost). At a $110,000 Basic policy, your biweekly cost is $17.60 and the government pays an additional ~$35.20 per pay period on your behalf.

Under-35 bonus: The effective death benefit doubles at no extra cost for employees under 35 — 2× at 34 and below, stepping down 10% per year through age 45 when the multiplier reaches 1×. A 30-year-old with $70,000 salary has $144,000 of effective Basic coverage ($72,000 × 2), not $72,000.

To carry Basic into retirement, you need at least 5 years of continuous enrollment immediately before your retirement date (or since first opportunity to enroll, if shorter). At retirement you elect one of three reduction options for Basic: 75% free reduction (coverage eventually drops to 25% of original), 50% paid reduction, or no reduction (coverage stays full in exchange for an additional premium). That election is permanent — it cannot be changed after it takes effect.

Option A: Flat $10,000 coverage

Option A adds $10,000 of coverage. You pay the full premium — no government share. Premiums are age-banded:

Option A is often worth keeping through retirement purely for end-of-life costs — $156/year at 60+ for $10,000 of coverage is reasonable actuarially. Like Basic, it can be continued into retirement if enrolled for 5 years before your retirement date.

Option B: Additional coverage (and the retirement trap)

Option B lets you insure your life for 1–5 multiples of your annual salary. On a $120,000 salary with 5× Option B elected, you have $600,000 of additional life insurance on top of Basic. This is the most powerful income-replacement coverage in FEGLI — and the most dangerous to hold carelessly into retirement.

Unlike Basic and Option A, Option B has no retirement reduction feature. Once you retire, you can continue Option B at your existing multiples (paying escalating age-band premiums), reduce the number of multiples, or drop it entirely. There is no free partial reduction. The premiums shown in the projection table above continue to increase indefinitely — there is no ceiling.

The core planning question: is Option B still cost-effective relative to private term life insurance, and do you still need the coverage? The crossover point where private term beats FEGLI Option B depends on your health status. For most healthy employees, the crossover occurs somewhere in the late 50s. Once health issues develop that would make you uninsurable or push private premiums above FEGLI rates, that comparison shifts — keeping FEGLI becomes more attractive even at high premiums.

See the FEGLI retirement decision guide for the full comparison framework, including the survivor annuity vs. Option B tradeoff.

Option C: Family coverage

Option C covers your spouse and eligible dependent children. Each multiple = $5,000 on your spouse + $2,500 per eligible child. Maximum (5 multiples): $25,000 spouse + $12,500 per child. This coverage pays if a covered family member dies — it does not pay on your death.

Option C is often over-elected. Common situations where reduction makes sense: children are grown or nearly adults, spouse has substantial income or life insurance, or the coverage amounts no longer represent a meaningful financial need. Like Option B, Option C can be continued into retirement with no government share and no free reduction option — you continue paying the full age-banded premium.

The 5-year rule: can you carry FEGLI into retirement?

To continue any FEGLI coverage into retirement, you must have been continuously enrolled in that specific option for at least the 5 years immediately before your retirement date — or since your first opportunity to enroll, whichever is shorter. The 5-year rule applies independently to Basic, Option A, Option B, and Option C.²

If you dropped Option B two years ago and re-enrolled, you cannot continue Option B at retirement unless you reach the 5-year threshold from re-enrollment. OPM cannot waive the 5-year rule under any circumstances — not for disability retirement, not for early buyouts. Verify your continuous enrollment history in Benefits OnLine (HR Connect) at least 18 months before your planned retirement date, while there is still time to re-enroll and meet the 5-year requirement if needed.

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