In lieu of the retirement allowance for his life alone, a judge may elect, or revoke or change a previous election prior to the approval of the previous election, to have the actuarial equivalent of his retirement allowance as of the date of retirement applied to a lesser retirement allowance, in accordance with one of the optional settlements specified in Section 75071.
That election, revocation, or change of election shall be made by a writing filed with the Judges’ Retirement System prior to the making of the first payment on account of any retirement allowance.