pension

(noun)

A gratuity paid regularly as a benefit due to a person in consideration of past services; notably to one retired from service, on account of retirement age, disability or similar cause; especially a regular stipend paid by a government to retired public officers, disabled soldiers; sometimes passed on to the heirs, or even specifically for them, as to the families of soldiers killed in service.

Examples of pension in the following topics:

  • Aging

    • In the U.S. specifically, the pension system and the healthcare sector are two important examples of this problem.
    • One of the problems that may arise from a large segment of society being aged is a pension crisis.
    • In the U.S., it is probably going to become increasingly difficult to pay corporate, federal, and state pensions, because the number of workers relative to retirees is shrinking.
    • In order to improve the sustainability of the pension system, a few measures can be undertaken.
    • Finally, it may become necessary to expand resources to fund pensions through increased contributions or higher taxes.

  • The Graying of America

    • Older people generally incur more health-related costs than do younger people, and in the workplace can also cost more in worker's compensation and pension liabilities.

  • Socially Constructed Interpretations of Aging

    • For instance, retirement only became a "universal" American ideal in the post-World War I era, as the growth of Social Security and private pensions dramatically expanded the safety net available to aging workers who were leaving the labor market.

  • Bureaucracies and Formal Groups

    • Bundle of U.S. pension documents from 1906 bound in red tape.

  • Families and Inequality

    • Examples include widows who stand to lose a pension if they remarry and so undergo a marriage only in the eyes of God and the community; lesbian, gay and bisexual couples with same-sex partners (where same-sex marriage is not legally recognized); some sects which recognize polygamy (see, Mormon fundamentalism), retired couples who would lose pension benefits if legally married, Muslim men who wish to engage in polygamy that is condoned in some situations under Islam, polyamorous couples and groups that seek ceremonial celebration of commitment (where polyamory is not legally recognized), and immigrants who do not wish to alert the immigration authorities that they are married either to a spouse they are leaving behind or because the complexity of immigration laws may make it difficult for spouses to visit on a tourist visa.

  • Elder Abuse

    • Financial abuse is the illegal or unauthorized use of a person's property, money, pension, or will.