[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Fisherman

Right on. Those that replied with snide remarks... eventually, unfortunately, you will wake up one day and find yourself single. And when Social Security tells you that you can only now draw one benefit, yours or your spouses which ever one is larger you will appreciate how being single is in fact an arm of discrimination because of your status. Assuming like me, my husband and I worked all our lives paying in to social security from our paychecks and so did our employers. Then he dies at 66 and half our household income disappears. Our money we paid in to the fund, gone. The Income goes away, but you still have the mortgage, rent, taxes, insurance, utilities etc associated with household expenses. Then you find yourself dipping in to your investments for the shortage. Single people do get penalized in so many ways from taxation to small things like this person has brought up. For me it is a slap in the face as I certainly never expected to be single at such a young age.

Sorry for your loss, but if all the items you listed were based on belly buttons, the rates would increase and overall costs would be approximately the same. As a married person, you would have been paying more over the last 40 years. It's a zero-sum situation.