Potentially frightening post bereavement situation (55, pension, divorce, spouses)

[MI-Roger]

A 72yo neighbor became a widow early last month when her 83yo husband sucummed after 12+ years of fighting multiple cancers and cardiac disease. My wife and I spent a couple hours visiting with the widowed neighbor today.

• Her SS has been increased to match his previous amount, but this is effectively the same as losing her entire SS benefit amount.

• She will receive one-half of his pension benefit.

Needless to say, the only recurring household bill diminishing after his death is groceries. Out-of-pocket medical and prescription drug costs will also decrease.

But the overall big picture sure looks financially bleak for her in the future.

We all neeed to develop a financial plan to ensure continuity of life-style for our spouses if we predecease them.

[sera]

Caring neighbors you are MI-Roger.

Thank you for the reminder to plan; planning for us, when my husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, after receiving numerous pages from a funeral home, we chose the Neptune Society for him and myself. My parents had this plan; grateful when the nursing home called, didn't have to concern myself for Bruce. At that time, so much too tend to Numb !

Grief and Mourning Thread on City-Data, a comfort.

[Flamingo13]

That's how SS works: you collect for yourself OR your spouse, you don't get double. It's tough to be alone/widowed.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

.. It's tough to be alone/widowed.

IRS can add substantially to that burden (Single filing status if retirement planning was for MFJ)

RMD's ? Yikes
Dealing with the physical death may become the easy part, after you've recalibrated your plan.

[marino760]

Originally Posted by MI-Roger

A 72yo neighbor became a widow early last month when her 83yo husband sucummed after 12+ years of fighting multiple cancers and cardiac disease. My wife and I spent a couple hours visiting with the widowed neighbor today.

• Her SS has been increased to match his previous amount, but this is effectively the same as losing her entire SS benefit amount.

• She will receive one-half of his pension benefit.

Needless to say, the only recurring household bill diminishing after his death is groceries. Out-of-pocket medical and prescription drug costs will also decrease.

But the overall big picture sure looks financially bleak for her in the future.

We all neeed to develop a financial plan to ensure continuity of life-style for our spouses if we predecease them.

But this is something all married couples face who rely on SS. Unless they both die together, one of the SS benefits will stop. They know this all along so there is no shock or surprise with this happening. There needs to be a plan in place early on so the survivor will be able to afford to continue living their current lifestyle such as life insurance of something else.
Being single, I never depended on 2 social security checks.

[KaraG]

When my dad died, SS pulled his payment from earlier that month out of his account, something most grieving spouses won't expect.

[Lillie767]

Originally Posted by MI-Roger

A 72yo neighbor became a widow early last month when her 83yo husband sucummed after 12+ years of fighting multiple cancers and cardiac disease. My wife and I spent a couple hours visiting with the widowed neighbor today.

• Her SS has been increased to match his previous amount, but this is effectively the same as losing her entire SS benefit amount.

• She will receive one-half of his pension benefit.

Needless to say, the only recurring household bill diminishing after his death is groceries. Out-of-pocket medical and prescription drug costs will also decrease.

But the overall big picture sure looks financially bleak for her in the future.

We all neeed to develop a financial plan to ensure continuity of life-style for our spouses if we predecease them.

She should contact her state/local department of aging (or whatever it's called in your locale).

They can apprise her of different benefits that might be available to her at her income level.

Sometimes the federal website is helpful:

https://www.usa.gov/benefits,
https://www.usa.gov/find-government-benefits

[Teacher Terry]

My parents planned for this eventuality because it happens to all couples. When I was married we did too each taking a smaller pension so we could leave it to the remaining spouse. What I didn’t plan on was having to divorce him for being a serial cheater. Grey divorce isn’t rare and it really causes a financial loss. The widow will have to make some decisions such as downsizing, etc so her expenses match her income.

[ERH]

Originally Posted by KaraG

When my dad died, SS pulled his payment from earlier that month out of his account, something most grieving spouses won't expect.

Yes, we experienced this when my mother died. Real eye opener for us kids as we plan for ourselves!

[Listener2307]

It's gonna be tougher for some couples than others, but we all should get ready as best we can.
I don't ask my wife what her plan is, I just make sure she knows where everything is and how to access it. There should be enough for her.