This Guy Needed this Forum Last Year............

[FinanceDude]

Post modified

 

[OAG]

Assumption is that she will be able to get her husband's SS Benefit which based on the OP should be higher. She needs to check with SSA to see which will be higher, and when, widow rate, her age 62, wait until he would have been 65 and X months for a higher rate or wait until she reaches 65 herself. I would assume the wait until he would have been 65 and X months would be the best rate for the long term. I would assume she could streach the withrawals from the 401k and, which should not be necessary, her IRA until the higher SS rate would be available (looks like about 2 years). Long term -- sell home -- reverse mortgate -- help from family, children?; part-time work? She needs all the help and support she can get from family and friends expecially over the next 6 to 8 months.

 

[donheff]

Too bad, he selected: "LIFETIME ONLY" on his pension to get the highest monthly amount. On this "old pension". there is NO period certain, so when he dies, there is no payment to spouse.

Did she sign off on his pension election? If not, does the private sector have any requirements for spousal notification like the Federal and (I believe) other governments? Maybe she can sue the jerk and his company. And, yes, he is a jerk for not taking a survivor annuity in the circumstances described. This is completely unlike posters here who are taking out insurance policies to make up the difference if they die young. He took a crap shot on his wife's future and she lost.

 

[Nords]

And, yes, he is a jerk for not taking a survivor annuity in the circumstances described.

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."
-- Hanlon's Razor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor

 

[justin]

This is completely unlike posters here who are taking out insurance policies to make up the difference if they die young. He took a crap shot on his wife's future and she lost.

And the more typical poster who has $40,000/yr in expenses and has $1 million in outside tax deferred accounts and is trying to decide whether to take the $30,000/yr pension for life ONLY or the $23,000/yr pension for joint life of both spouses. The pension in that case is icing on the cake. Neither spouse "needs" the pension to get by.

Maybe the OP's surviving spouse should get out that resume and polish it up...

 

[Khan]

Why are they paying $2000/month for treatment when he's going to be dead in a few months?





edited to correct spelling

 

[Telly]

Did she sign off on his pension election? If not, does the private sector have any requirements for spousal notification like the Federal and (I believe) other governments?

The last megacorp that I worked for required notarized signature of the spouse and blood sample, etc. before they would allow a single-life only pension payout program to begin.

I would expect that the co. that bought A-B years ago would have the same rules today. I know that company used to have them.

 

[saluki9]

Why are they paying $2000/month for treatment when he's going to be dead in a few months?





edited to correct spelling

I'm just going out on a limb here but perhaps its a last ditch effort or for pain medication. Maybe, (just maybe) the guy would like to die fighting or not in horrible misserable pain?

(loved one has pancreatic cancer, a truly horrible disease)

 

[astromeria]

Why are they paying $2000/month for treatment when he's going to be dead in a few months?

They have hope. And probably much of it is being spent on pain relief. sigh--what a sad situation.

FinanceDude, do you think she might be happier selling the house and moving to a cozy condo close to friends or relatives? After my father died (he chose not to treat his advanced cancer, but he was almost 88 yrs old), my mother was depressed living alone in the house they had shared. Ended up building a smaller house next to me and close to my brother. She is much happier since she moved. And the planning/execution of the move--and redecorating--gave her something positive to focus on.

donhoff, perhaps they were simply mistaken aobut who had the better prospects for longesvity. My FIL made a similar choice when he retired at age 62. MIL, also 62, was a recent breast cancer survivor at the time. They figured he would outlive her. But...he died at age 76 and she's still around at age 94.

 

[FinanceDude]

They have hope. And probably much of it is being spent on pain relief. sigh--what a sad situation.

FinanceDude, do you think she might be happier selling the house and moving to a cozy condo close to friends or relatives? After my father died (he chose not to treat his advanced cancer, but he was almost 88 yrs old), my mother was depressed living alone in the house they had shared. Ended up building a smaller house next to me and close to my brother. She is much happier since she moved. And the planning/execution of the move--and redecorating--gave her something positive to focus on.

donhoff, perhaps they were simply mistaken aobut who had the better prospects for longesvity. My FIL made a similar choice when he retired at age 62. MIL, also 62, was a recent breast cancer survivor at the time. They figured he would outlive her. But...he died at age 76 and she's still around at age 94.

I think she will probably go with that route, like a smaller house/condo close to family. His son is an attorney, and they have questioned the company about the pension election. Apprarently she signed off on it, because he did all the financial stuff, and she thought he was doing the right thing. Neither foresaw the health calamity.

The $2000 a month is for experimental chemo, which has shown some promise and was just recently approved by the FDA............

 

[terminator]

It seems like a real violation of this guy's privacy for his brand new financial advisor to talk about his situation in this amount of detail on an Internet forum. Their ages, his employer, his duration of employment, their assets and his medical diagnosis/prognosis are now floating around out there . . . it wouldn't take much for his acquaintances to figure it out it's him if they read this and know him. You could have left out the details and made the same point about his unfortunate election.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I'm just going out on a limb here but perhaps its a last ditch effort or for pain medication. Maybe, (just maybe) the guy would like to die fighting or not in horrible misserable pain?

(loved one has pancreatic cancer, a truly horrible disease)

My fav. aunt had liver cancer. She was not all that old, but said
"no chemo for me." If I have the misfortune to contract something
similar, I intend to follow her example.

JG

 

[bosco]

It seems like a real violation of this guy's privacy for his brand new financial advisor to talk about his situation in this amount of detail on an Internet forum. Their ages, his employer, his duration of employment, their assets and his medical diagnosis/prognosis are now floating around out there . . . it wouldn't take much for his acquaintances to figure it out it's him if they read this and know him. You could have left out the details and made the same point about his unfortunate election.

hey, I think the OP should post the guy's SSN. Then one of us can claim to be him and keep the pension rolling for the widow for a mere 10% cut.....maybe register to vote in Chicago while we're at it.

 

[FinanceDude]

It seems like a real violation of this guy's privacy for his brand new financial advisor to talk about his situation in this amount of detail on an Internet forum. Their ages, his employer, his duration of employment, their assets and his medical diagnosis/prognosis are now floating around out there . . . it wouldn't take much for his acquaintances to figure it out it's him if they read this and know him. You could have left out the details and made the same point about his unfortunate election.

Doubt it.......his number is unlisted.......plus I have read much more intriguing things on here than anything I posted........

 

[Mr._johngalt]

plus I have read much more intriguing things than anything I posted........

Me too. You have no idea.

JG

 

[Nords]

Doubt it.......his number is unlisted.......plus I have read much more intriguing things on here than anything I posted........

Yes, and like the details of your story, some of them might have been changed to disguise the person's identity!

 

[FinanceDude]

Yes, and like the details of your story, some of them might have been changed to disguise the person's identity!

They were, but I modified the topic anyway, I tend to tiptoe on eggshells as it is on here............

 

[terminator]

Hey, I really wasn't trying to bust your chops, I just know how I'd feel if my new financial advisor had posted this info in public. You're right, I've seen a lot worse violations of privacy here, although most of those people aren't talking about people with whom they have fiduciary duties. I always took confidentiality to an extreme when practicing law and my clients appreciated it.

 

[FinanceDude]

Hey, I really wasn't trying to bust your chops, I just know how I'd feel if my new financial advisor had posted this info in public. You're right, I've seen a lot worse violations of privacy here, although most of those people aren't talking about people with whom they have fiduciary duties. I always took confidentiality to an extreme when practicing law and my clients appreciated it.

Good point.......... Some of the facts were changed, but I was bringing to light hopefully that if you're going to do it yourself, make sure YOU do the due diligence so you don't make an irrevocable bad decision.

I have learned a lot here so far, and hopefully have added a little perspective also. I realize guys like me are not the most popular on a board like this, but I also know that a lot of the "advice" folks on here have gotten was from "amateur wannabes", not people like me who take their jobs seriously.

Peace

 

[New Thinking]

One of the things you can do is bring the widow to the attention that she can really maximize her SS if she does it correctly. She has to look at the numbers, but she could start her own SS at 62 and "switch" to a full unreduced widow's benefit at her Full Retirement Age. Conversely, she could start the widow's benefit and delay her own until age 70. Few widows or advisor are familiar with the options.

 

[kaudrey]

I just got to this post, and it looks like the OP was modified - am I supposed to have any idea what we are talking about here?

 

[kcowan]

I just got to this post, and it looks like the OP was modified - am I supposed to have any idea what we are talking about here?

Retiree chose his life only for his pension. Now he's dying of cancer and wife has financial difficulties looming. How to help the wife survive...