Or he did a calculation and bet that he would live long enough after retirement that as a couple they would be better off with the 100% payout. So his wife wou

Or he did a calculation and bet that he would live long enough after retirement that as a couple they would be better off with the 100% payout. So his wife would only need to outlive him by 2 years for every 7 years he lives (assuming the extra 15% is put away, and if invested it could even be a better deal). So if he lived 28 years, his wife would need to live 36 years (or more, factoring in interest) for the 85% deal to be better.