European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 22, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse However there can be a delay in the mail and there is nothing our office can do about it. Every once in a while. God forbid it All six Boras go he advises people depending on stateside checks to schedule payments such As their rent to fall later in the month not on lha first. Generally then in t a hitch. The big boxes of clucks arrive at lha consulate on schedule and Van mater puts the staff to work getting them out in the German mail. The checks Are processed bang bang. Bang. We know people depend on Moat he says Are sent out the same Day they arrive lha rest the next Day. The amounts of the checks vary trom a few dollars to the maximum allowed. The average Check in january was for $337. If something goes wrong and a social Security Check does no arrive As it should there is a computer program that issues a duplicate. It takes however from 25 to 30 Days for the paperwork to be completed and lot the Check to arrive overseas. There Are new Mil Altos on who is eligible overseas to receive social Security. As of january 1985, there is a five year residency requirement Lor family members who Are not . Citizens. This win Lake benefits away irom some widows. If they Al some time had not lived in the United states for at least five years they will no longer be eligible for the social Security benefits they have been receiving. Also if you Are a . Citizen or . Resident up to half of the social Security benefits became subject to Federal income tax starting in 1934. The taxing begins when the adjusted Gross income plus nontaxable interest and Hall of the social Security benefits exceeds $25,000 for an individual and 132,000 for a couple filing jointly. For those who Are not . Citizens Federal income lax in the amount of 30 percent of one half of the Benefit amount is Wilh head. Filly one percent of the those receiving . Benefits through the Frankfurt consulate Are . Citizens besides social Security checks come through for Energy administration and civil service retirees and Railroad Board beneficiaries. The Railroad Board is the Only private Industry that " has a government operated pension. It pension plan started in the laity 1930s and was a Model for the social Security program which was signed into Law in August 133s. Altogether we Deal with a wide Range of says Van meter retired military and their families. Department of defense civilians contract people. Germans who have worked in the United states. Some people receive both a veterans administration disability pension and social Security. The important thing for both programs is to Send Back the yearly questionnaire to the . Embassy consulate or social Security office. This confirms your Eugyl Ottily to receive the benefits. If the questionnaire is not returned promptly the checks a has slate run medical insurance which he deems one of the last real bargains in the Western world. I pay 6,000 pesos around $43 every six months. For that in Case of serious illness i am entitled to unlimited Hospital stay. I have been pleased so far with the Quality of the doctors. There also Are Many private health plans around which allow you to pick your own it is the people though he says that make the whole Spanish experience truly delightful. Before retiring i had spent Many vacations Here but had had limited Contact. I is Only since i have bean retired that i realize How marvelous the Spanish people Are terribly Friendly and helpful.", the plight of widows overseas if military retirees find the going rough overseas the situation is tenfold so Lor Are a sad group says Carol Sunada. Retirement services officer at Wiesbaden Germany. Most lheyrangeinagefrom31 to77 Young age and always lived Alile Shell Rodby the then she notes after their husband s death they find themselves suddenly on their own and wit no real Job skills. Under the survival Benefit plan they receive about 55 percent of the retirement pay their Lormer spouse received or would have received. If this makes up most of their income it is very difficult. Ii they Are non resident aliens the situation is worse. Thirty percent of the survival Benefit Money is withheld and 15 percent of any social Security payments. That s about a 45 percent Cut in the benefits. Sunada says that the women affected would not be Able to make it financially if they did no find some Type of work generally she says the work available o them is Low paying and to make ends meet Al All. Hey must live with relatives. Why do these women choose to live overseas where their benefits Are so drastically Cut Many have never really known the United Stales she explains. They have Only lived on or near military bases. English is not their native language. Their families Are overseas unfortunately Many military widows also Are not even familiar with the benefits Tham Teyara eligible to receive. A suddenly without the of it a need someone to fam on. For example they Don t realize that if a retired military spouse Dies overseas Anabu rial in the United slates Al a National or Post cemetery is desired the military Wil provide a Headstone and military honors. The latter includes pallbearers a firing squad bugler and chaplain. Sunada recently aided a Young widow i going through All of this. There has to be someone Cofean on she says taking care Otal the complicated arrangements alone is just arrangements were made Lor the military burial Sunada says she was terribly impressed with the kindness he military afforded in the new Law to help older women if you believe that most people in the United tales receive pensions when they retire Lew have pensions to count on. In 1984. Only 30 percent of those Over 65 received one. According to the census Bureau the figure includes those who worked for the Federal state or local government As Well As those who worked in the private sector the older woman is most olten the one who is left out. Only 11 percent of Black women and 2t percent of while women Over 65 received a pension in 1984. Based either on their own employment or their spouses for men those figures Are twice As High 30 percent of Block men and 44 percent of White men received pensions in 1934. The amount received also in t As High As Many would suppose either. The one War woman in 10 who received a pension received on the average Only $273 a month. White women received an average of �229 a month and men More than double the amount. A new Law called the retirement equity act of 1934 Rea is addressing some of the inequities. In the past. A widow received nothing from her spouse s pension if he died before the Date of Early retirement which is age 55 under most pension plans. This happened even if he had already met All the pension requirements and regardless of How Long he had worked for the company. Under the Rea. Once employees earn the right to a pension their spouses will receive a survivor Benefit no matter How old the worker is at the time of death. Another common Way widows lost out was thai their husbands did not provide such a Benefit. Under pension Law a worker May choose Between receiving pension checks for Only As Long As he lives or smaller benefits during his lifetime plus survivor benefits for his spouse after his death. Now the Rea states that both spouses must agree in writing before survivor benefits can be waived by the worker. Woman who hav a Varc a also have lost out on pensions. In lha past even if a woman was awarded a share of her Farmer husband s pension she Seldom received it. Pension plan officials believed that Federal Law prevented splitting the benefits. Now though ii does not guarantee a share of a pension the Rea slates that pension plans must Honor awards made by divorce courts. The Rea helps women in other ways. The age at which a person must be allowed to join a pension plan has been lowered from 25 to 21 and employees must give credit for All work after age 18 once the employee is covered. Second if the employee leaves the Job and then returns within five years the pension credits earned before the break Are not lost. This to helpful to women who stay at Home Lor a few years to care Lor children. Woman a advised by he older women s league to seriously discuss pension and survivor benefits Ullh their husbands. They should find Oul if their husbands Are covered by a plan and what will happen to the benefits if they become disabled or die. They also should ask ii the husband has waived the rights to a survivor Benefit if they Ere working themselves they should look Mlo Ihler company s plan carefully. They should find the actual Worth of it and what they will receive Al age 65. Tuesday. July 22, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 17
