Quote:Wow, that really sucks. Does she at least have enough paid in to receive regular benefits when she reaches retirement age?

She passed away last year.  I don't really know much about what the situation would have been if she were still alive.  I know she paid into Survivor Benefits, and my dad gets that.  But I don't really know much about it outside of that.  I remember the Social Security office told her that if she worked another quarter, she could collect, but she was blind, had heart problems, and had trouble walking because of a bad hip.  So working was pretty much out of the question. 


Retirement plans are pretty confusing.  I know they changed my wife's plan recently because they deemed what the school was doing was against the law for... some reason?  Neither of us know what's going on with that, but we're not going to count on it.  She won't retire for another at least 35 years in any case.  


Best thing anyone can do I think is just save their money.  My wife and I splurge once in a while (and we did have a new house built recently, but our house was falling apart, and we didn't have enough room.).  But counting on a retirement plan or social security in the long run is a bad idea.  I've heard too many case of people being burnt to trust it.  


My mom always said "They don't make anything simple," and it's pretty much true.  There's a lot of things they could simplify to save money and time.  But they won't do it.  

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