Re(1): Taking care of your widow IP: 108.9.246.61 Posted on January 1, 2013 at 09:33:08 PM by jeffrey l smith
It is unfortunate that she lost her home but she lost the home because she could no longer afford the mortgage payments after Sergeant Jackson's pension was cut in half due to his death. The problem as I see it is when we pass before our spouse they only receive half of our pension. All the same bills still have to be paid but now they only have half of the retirement income. I believe that if the retiree was married to their spouse prior to retiring and still married to the same spouse upon their death that spouse should continue to receive the full retirement benefit. Why are we amending the pension to give benefits to second or third spouses obtained after retirement and we do nothing for the spouses who were there before and after retirement like Mrs. Jackson who stood by her husband for fifty years. It would be cost neutral to continue to pay the original spouse the full retirement income. It is my understanding that when we retire the actuary projects our retirement payment to age 83. So why not pay our original spouse who is still married to us at the time of our death the full retirement benefit until we would have reached 83 years of age. Replies: