Is it worth being married

margaretclare

In 2008-2009, the full basic State Pension is £90.70 a week for a single person and £145.05 a week for a couple.

I am surprised at this. I thought that there was no such thing any more as a couple pension, that everyone was entitled to their own pension? Except that a woman who is claiming on her husband's contribution record (and living with him) gets 60% of the full rate, i.e. £54.42 as opposed to £90.70.

In fact DH and I are a bit like 2 single people in that we both get full state retirement pension based on our own individual contribution records. The only difference is that we benefit from married people's tax allowance which we split between us to set against our own pensions income.

The point about next-of-kin - when DH moved in with me and I went for surgery not long afterwards, as did he, all within the next 18 months, we had no difficulty in putting ourselves down as each other's NOK for hospital admissions.

Crutch757

I have read the comments on my article with interest and not a little disappointment that a lot of readers concentrate on "marrying for love, not financial reasons". Of course I married for love; how else do you remain with someone for more than 40 years. The point I was trying to make is that it is in the interests of society in general that people marry and stay married. Now that neither society or the Government care what marital status people are, and actually punish them financially for being married, what is the incentive and purpose in being married in the first place. I am financially secure in my retirement and have no intention of having a "divorce of convenience" but I feel sorry for those pensioners out there who are doing just that but staying together because they are better off financially.

jm2926

To OP: A lot of responder’s have been guessing as to exactly what you were referring to, perhaps if you gave more information you would get more accurate/relevant responses.

Personally I didn't go into your motives, but tried to answer your initial question, it's not easy when so much guesswork to your circumstances is required. Personally if you decided as a committed couple to continue your relationship but with a legal divorce if that benefited you, then I've no problem with that. It's really your business and not up to anyone else to make a moral judgement, it's between husband and wife, and actually I think it rather sad if the uk government is forcing pensioners into making these kind of decisions on a financial basis rather than the original marriage commitment they made so many years before.

Although totally committed to my marriage, I think in the future (25 yrs from now) that when retired we would look at all aspects of cash-flow. At the end of the day lifestyle is dictated by money in/out, and retirement can cut the margins into very thin slices. I'm watching anxiously as my mum approaches 60 this year to see how it works out for her. It's a sad society where our elderly worry about basic living costs, or even those with provision end up spending their "extra" money on essentials.
Good luck to you Crutch757 whatever you decide. It's a difficult time of life, we all look forward to getting to retirement, but with my recent experiences with parents/in-laws, I wonder if it doesn't present as many challenges as opportunities (and not the escape/release we hope for)