When a retired O-5 with 24 years of service dies, his surviving spouse does not simply lose one paycheck. She potentially qualifies for four separate income streams from four different agencies: a military SBP annuity from DFAS, DIC from the VA, a Social Security survivor benefit from SSA, and — if her husband also had federal civilian service — a FERS survivor annuity from OPM. In 2025, with both SBP and DIC payable concurrently (the offset was eliminated in 2023) and WEP/GPO repealed (the Fairness Act took effect in 2025), a qualifying surviving spouse can collect all four checks simultaneously.

The combined monthly income can exceed $6,000. But each program has its own eligibility rules, its own election deadlines, and its own interaction quirks — and an advisor who does not understand how they stack is likely to leave money on the table or, worse, tell a grieving spouse she is ineligible for a benefit she is entitled to.