Video instructions and help with filling out and completing USCG CG-4700
Hello everyone DJ here today I'm going to talk about the Reserve Component survivor benefit plan this is one of the most important decisions that a service member must make and for that reason this episode will be a little bit longer than normal because I want to make sure I cover all the important details and explain it in a way that is completely understandable I'm going to come at this from the perspective of an army retirement service officer so some of the terms I use might be army specific however the information I'm giving you will apply to all services with that said let's jump into the topic by the way I'm going to do this in a Q&A format so the question will be like you're asking me and then I will respond to the question so here we go what is the Reserve Component survivor benefit plan to put it bluntly retired pay stops when the retirees heart stops there's no such thing as passing on your retirement to a family member or a friend by way of a will or any other sort of legal instrument the rcs BP the Reserve Component survivor benefit plan is the only way that you can pass on a survivor annuity to a family member now another satellite phrase that I did not say you're passing on part of your retirement you're passing on an annuity that you are purchasing and that is why I don't like when people say that oh no your retirements being reduced well no it's not if you think back to when you're drilling and you look at the deduction for the servicemen's group life insurance is your drill pay being reduced or are you buying a product you're buying a product it's the same thing here this is not your retirement this is an annuity that you're buying for the benefit of your family or other beneficiary so please keep that in mind as we go on so when do I have to make this critical decision if you have not already completed 20 years of qualifying service then you've got some time to think about this you don't make a decision right now if you are well past 20 years of service then the window has closed you're not able to make an election at this point however if you are approaching the time that you would receive a 20-year letter or you just recently received it and by recently I mean less than 90 days ago then you have some decisions to make very quickly and again let me emphasize the window to make an election for the Reserve Component survivor benefit plan starts the day you receive your 20-year letter not the day it was published so if someone tries to say you know you're two days late this was published 92 days ago be sure to tell them when you actually got the letter in fact many