For decades, Gloria Wilson showed up for her students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Now 94, she depends on her CalSTRS pension to cover the basics. So when her monthly deposit suddenly vanished, the confusion quickly turned into fear.

Wilson, who now lives in Texas, said the silence from her bank on the account was unsettling. There was no warning, just missing money.

Her daughter, Melva Williams, soon found out why.

“We got a letter and it said termination of benefits due to her being dead,” Williams told ABC Eyewitness News (1).

In more than 40 years of teaching and decades of retirement, Wilson says nothing like this had ever happened before.

The letter left Wilson stunned and immediately caused her financial stress.

“It disturbed me, and I couldn’t imagine anybody saying that I was deceased when I wasn’t deceased,” said Wilson.

Williams immediately called the pension plan, only to be told she needed to prove her mother was still alive. The family was instructed to submit a letter signed by both Wilson and her primary care physician. They did, twice.

But confusion over how the forms needed to be printed triggered yet another delay, and eventually, another phone call. That’s when Williams said they learned the issue might be far bigger than her mother’s case alone.

According to Williams, a representative explained that retirees who had moved out of state, particularly those without a California phone prefix, were running into problems after a new computer system was rolled out in October.

“The basic thing is that just like my mother, they were declared dead or ineligible now or something of that nature,” Williams told the reporter. “And I’m like, what? A computer glitch?”

For retirees living on fixed incomes, even a brief disruption can be destabilizing.

Nearly nine in 10 Americans age 65 and older collect Social Security. For more than 24 million seniors, those payments make up at least half of their income, according to the Social Security Administration (2).

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Pensions often help fill the gap. Retired teachers nationwide typically receive between $2,500 and $4,000 a month, though benefits vary by state and years of service.

For example, in California, a teacher with roughly 30 years in the classroom earning an average of $80,000 toward the end of their career can expect a pension of around $4,500 per month, according to the State Pension Advisor (3).

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System did respond after ABC7 reached out for comment.

In a statement, a spokesperson said the agency routinely verifies benefit payments for security reasons and to avoid fraud, adding that it was not aware of any payments being stopped incorrectly. If a payment is delayed, the system works as quickly as possible to reissue it.

For Wilson and her family, that reassurance has yet to translate into results. They are still waiting for the missing payments, money Wilson relies on to cover her expenses.

In the meantime, the family hopes sharing their story will prompt other retirees to double-check their accounts and speak up quickly if something doesn’t look right.

Even without an administrative error cutting off income, many seniors already face a fragile financial reality. Most retirees live on fixed incomes made up of Social Security, pensions and personal savings, leaving little room for rising costs or surprise expenses.

“One of the most important and often overlooked parts of retirement is understanding what your expenses will look like once you stop working,” Frank Davis, president of New Era Financial, told CBS News (4). “We have come across many people who expected their costs to decrease, when the reality is that certain expenses remain steady while others can even increase.”

For seniors planning for or already living in retirement, financial stability often comes down to a few core principles (5):

  • Pay attention to your payments and withdrawals. With most retirees living on fixed incomes, having a clear picture of expenses helps prevent small surprises from turning into larger problems.

  • Plan for rising costs. Medical bills, prescriptions and long-term care can strain even well-prepared budgets, making insurance coverage and savings cushions especially important.

  • Be flexible. Whether that means simplifying expenses, downsizing or tapping into available discounts and benefits, small adjustments can help stretch retirement income further.

As for Wilson, CalSTRS said in an email to ABC7 that it has addressed the issue and expects her payments to resume early next week.

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ABC 7 (1); AARP (2); State Pension (3); CBS (4); Bonaventure Senior (5).

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.