By Russell Gloor, National Social Security Advisor at the AMAC Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens. Dear Rusty: This is a matter that I find particularly irksome. My wife – a retired teacher – was told that, should I pre-decease her, she is not eligible to get survivor benefits from my Social Security payments. I’m sure there is some arcane, bureaucratic justification for this, but I think it unconscionable. Is this true and if so, what sort of major miracle would be required to alter that? Signed: Disgruntled in Texas.