I'm not the vet mentioned in the title, I met him at work, where he was working as a technician. The man was easily above 70 years old and I noticed him wearing a Vietnam veteran hat. I have a soft spot for vets (for obvious reasons) and so I started talking to him. After small talk, he reveals that he was going to stop in a year. I ask him what his plans after retirement are, and he says that he didn't have any - he was divorced. She took his $1M house, his $200k 401k and approximately $100k in savings. He was due to retire in '06 (he even remembered the exact date) but had to keep working after that. Finally, he told me that it was because he got divorced in California that all this happened, and his lawyer told him that if he lived in Texas then everything would be different. Oh, and his ex said to him - "It's nothing personal, but marrying you was a business decision, and now its time to cash in." ]FYI, he said that he stayed loyal, saved up well etc.]

I feel so much for this man. I will think very carefully about getting married of course, but this may make me not do it at all. Also, how could the laws allow this to happen? Is the system that rigged?