Owning a Home Can Affect Survivor's Pension for Retirees
Listen to the story
Some retired people in France own a house or a flat.
This can be a problem for a special pension called the survivor's pension.
A survivor's pension is money a widow or widower gets after their husband or wife dies.
In France, this pension depends on how much money you have.
If you own a home, this counts as part of your money.
So some retirees get a smaller survivor's pension, or no pension at all.
This happens because of the property they own.
Not all pension systems work the same way.
Some systems let people get the survivor's pension before age 55.
Other systems only give it after age 55.
There is also new help for retirees.
A new form is now pre-filled with information.
This form makes it easier to ask for the survivor's pension.
People do not need to write as much information themselves.
This should make the process faster and simpler.
Vocabulary15 words
- survivor's pension
- money given to a wife or husband after their partner dies
- property
- a house or flat that someone owns
- form
- a paper you fill in to ask for something
- pre-filled
- already has some information written on it
- retiree
- a person who has stopped working because they are old
- pension
- money paid regularly to old people who do not work
- scheme
- an official system or plan
- asset
- something valuable that a person owns, like a house
- widow
- a woman whose husband has died
- widower
- a man whose wife has died
- income
- money a person gets regularly
- application
- a request for something, like a pension
- benefit
- money or help given by the government
- process
- a series of steps to do something
- simplify
- to make something easier
📚 Ready to use these words in a real conversation?
Practice live with a real tutor on Preply.
Quiz
Answer key
1. Owning property 2. Money for a widow or widower after their partner dies 3. False
✅ Nice work on the quiz!
Keep the momentum going — book a live English lesson with a Preply tutor.
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Some retired people in France own a house or a _____.
This can be a problem for a special pension called the survivor's _____.
A survivor's pension is money a widow or widower gets after their husband or wife _____.
In France, this pension depends on how much _____ you have.
If you own a home, this counts as part of your _____.
So some retirees get a smaller survivor's pension, or no pension at _____.
Not all pension systems work the same _____.
Some systems let people get the survivor's pension before age _____.
A new form is now pre-filled with _____.
This form makes it easier to ask for the survivor's _____.
🎓 Enjoyed this story?
Turn today's reading into real speaking practice with a live Preply tutor.