1 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Living with no Retirement money
It is completely cruel how survivors don't keep full benefits. As a percentage of GDP, the cost to keep survivors whole is insignificant. We're talking probably $1 billion per year at the most, far below whatever favored war of the year costs.
Comment by CleanCalligrapher223 at 06/02/2025 at 14:53 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
This has been a provision of SS since the beginning. The reasoning is that some household expenses (groceries, Medicare premiums, clothing) will decrease after one spouse dies. I know that rent/mortgage, utilities and other relatively fixed expenses don't- I'm a widow myself- but there's no reason to be blindsided by this provision. One of the widows I know had told me that after she retired she and her husband blew their retirement savings on their dream trip to Greece but they'd be fine on SS.
Then her husband died. She sold her little 2-BR house and her car and moved into a small apartment in a retirement community run by our denomination, most likely with some subsidy.