To me it's simple economics. Retirees are essentially on a fixed income. When everything goes up, we lose until a COLA hits and still have less to spend. No, it's not fair and probably won't change until most of us are buried. As to your ex-spouse who gets half+ of your retired pay---thank heavens I never stayed married to one long enough for them to dip their boney knarled greedy hands into what I earned---bawahahahahaha, I liked that.