Israel pays a single, divorced, or widowed retiree the same basic Bituach Leumi old-age pension: ₪1,838 a month in 2026 (₪1,941 from age 80), topped up to a guaranteed floor of ₪4,375 when total income is low. Widows and widowers add a survivors’ pension of ₪1,381 to ₪1,941 a month, or ₪919 on top of their own old-age pension for a combined ₪2,757. Divorce splits everything built during the marriage 50/50 under Israeli law, and that includes a US 401(k) or UK pension. A non-Jewish widow or widower of a Jew keeps the right to make Aliyah after the spouse’s death, provided they have not remarried a non-Jew. A retiree with a recognized permanent disability of 19% or more pays only 5% of the normal purchase tax on a home, and the full disability pension of ₪4,771 a month carries past retirement age whenever it beats the old-age rate.
Retiring to Israel alone is a different project from retiring here as a couple, and almost nothing written about Aliyah admits it. Israeli social life is built around family units, community programming skews toward couples and women’s groups, and every bill lands on one income instead of two. Whether you never married, lost a spouse, or are ending a marriage on the way in, this page gives you the 2026 numbers and the playbook for each situation. It is part of our guide to social life and family for retirees in Israel, which sits inside our complete guide to retiring in Israel.
One person, one pension: the 2026 baseline
Every situation on this page starts from the same table, so here it is once. Bituach Leumi is Israel’s national insurance institute; these are its rates from 1 January 2026.
| Your situation | Monthly base | What stacks on top |
|---|---|---|
| Single or divorced, at retirement age | ₪1,838 (₪1,941 at 80+) | Income supplement raises low total income to ₪4,375 (₪4,460 at 80+) |
| Widow or widower, not yet drawing old-age | ₪1,838 survivors’ pension at 50+ (₪1,381 at ages 40 to 49; ₪1,941 at 80+) | ₪2,700 with one child, ₪3,562 with two, ₪862 per additional child |
| Widow or widower already on old-age pension | Own pension of ₪1,838 | Half the survivors’ pension (₪919), for ₪2,757 combined |
| Disabled, full incapacity, below retirement age | ₪4,771 | Keeps this rate after retirement age if it exceeds the old-age pension |
| New immigrant arriving past retirement age | Means-tested Special Old-Age Benefit at the basic rate | Sal Klita of ₪20,250 for a single retiree in year one, ₪25,400 for a single parent |
Two footnotes that apply to everyone: health insurance of ₪237 a month is deducted from an individual pension (₪123 on the income-supplement track), and single olim get a rent subsidy from month 7 of ₪363 a month, or ₪1,336 in Negev, Galilee, and development-town priority areas, for up to 30 months.
Retirement for single men: the calendar is the whole battle
Retirement for single men in Israel carries a documented social risk: community-center programming skews toward couples’ events and women’s groups, so a single man who does not deliberately build a weekly structure can go days without real conversation. The men who thrive here book the structure in month one:
- Daily minyan for observant men is the single most reliable anchor: morning prayers at the neighborhood synagogue mean daily human contact and a fast track into the local community in any city.
- Sports and hobby groups do the same job for secular men: hiking with SPNI, cycling, chess clubs, and matnas exercise classes all run in every major city.
- Volunteering replaces the rhythm of work. Yad Sarah’s 127 branches recruit older men for equipment lending, driving, and branch administration, ESRA places professional skills with nonprofits, and English conversation tutoring is in constant demand. The full menu of clubs, classes, and placements is in our guide to senior centers, classes, and volunteering in Israel.
- Companionship exists but the pool is small: older single men are a minority in the Anglo community. Jdate, SawYouAtSinai for observant Jews, and the Anglo-List directory of Israeli dating sites and singles meetups are the working channels.
On money: ₪1,838 a month does not fund an urban Israeli life on its own, so a single man retiring here plans around his foreign pension, Social Security, or savings, all of which are tax-exempt in Israel for the first 10 years after Aliyah. From age 67 every bus, train, and light rail ride nationwide is free with the senior Rav-Kav profile.
Retirement for single women: easier company, stricter housing rules
Retirement for single women in Israel is socially the easiest version of going it alone: AACI, ESRA, and matnas core programming (book clubs, crafts, cultural trips, cooking) skews female, Hadassah-Israel chapters across the country hand a newcomer an instant Anglo circle, and Anglo neighborhoods like Ra’anana, Netanya, and Jerusalem’s Rehavia and Katamon have low street crime and daytime transport that is safe to use alone.
The dates differ from men’s. A woman’s retirement age follows her birth year: 62 for women born before 1960, rising in steps to 65 for anyone born in 1970 or later, while men retire at 67. Women aged 62 to 66 ride public transport at half fare; from 67 it is free for everyone.
Housing is where single women apply a rule of their own: skip the ground floor, pick a mid-rise with an elevator in an Anglo neighborhood, and if security is the deciding factor, look at Diur Mugan, Israel’s licensed independent senior living, where 24/7 security is standard and which single women choose for exactly that reason. Entry runs on a refundable deposit of ₪530,000 to ₪3,000,000 plus ₪3,000 to ₪7,000 a month; our explainer covers how Diur Mugan works and our cost guide breaks down the deposit and monthly fees.
Retirement after divorce: the 50/50 rule reaches your 401(k)
Retirement after divorce means recalculating everything, because Israeli law divides marital property in a way that surprises most olim. Three rules govern it:
- The split. The Spouses’ Financial Relations Law sets a default 50/50 division of all assets built during the marriage. Property owned before the marriage and inheritances kept separate stay out of the pool.
- Foreign pensions are inside the pool. The portion of a US 401(k) or IRA, Canadian RRSP, or UK pension accrued during the marriage is a marital asset; the court appoints an actuary (a financial expert who calculates the exact marital share of a pension) to value it.
- The get. A get is the Jewish religious divorce document issued through the rabbinical court (Beit Din). A civil divorce from abroad is recognized for civil purposes in Israel, but remarriage under Jewish law requires a get, and since 2014 most divorcing couples must first attempt resolution at the court’s Dispute Resolution Unit before litigating.
My estimate: a divorce that splits a $500,000 marital 401(k) costs each side about ₪2,500 a month of retirement income. Basis: half of ₪1,500,000 (at the working rate of ₪3.00 per dollar) drawn down at 4% a year is ₪30,000 a year. That is more than an entire Bituach Leumi pension, which is why a cross-border lawyer and a recalculated retirement budget come before any settlement signature.
A divorced retiree receives the individual pension rate of ₪1,838 with no divorce supplement; if total income stays low, Hashlamat Hachnasa (the means-tested income supplement) lifts it to the ₪4,375 floor. Socially, divorcees who arrived as half of a couple often lose the couple’s network with the marriage; ESRA’s English-language counseling and the singles’ groups in Anglo communities exist precisely for this.
Widow or widower Aliyah: the right to move does not die with your spouse
Widow or widower Aliyah is fully protected in Israeli law: the non-Jewish surviving spouse of a Jew, or of a child or grandchild of a Jew, keeps the right to immigrate under the Law of Return after the partner’s death, as long as they have not remarried a non-Jew. Israel’s Supreme Court has upheld this, and the application through Nefesh B’Nefesh or the Jewish Agency is standard Aliyah plus proof of the marriage and the deceased spouse’s Jewish status.
If your late spouse was an Israeli resident who paid Bituach Leumi contributions, claim the survivors’ pension in this order:
- File the survivors’ claim at your nearest Bituach Leumi branch within 12 months of the death.
- Bring the death certificate (certified translation if issued abroad), your marriage certificate, and your Israeli ID (Teudat Zehut).
- If the death occurred abroad, route the claim through Bituach Leumi’s international liaison office.
The 2026 rates: ₪1,838 a month for a widow or widower aged 50 plus with no children at home (₪1,381 at ages 40 to 49, ₪1,941 from 80), ₪2,700 with one child, ₪3,562 with two, and ₪862 for each additional child. If you already draw your own old-age pension, you receive half the survivors’ pension, ₪919, on top of it, for ₪2,757 a month combined. A widow or widower with one child qualifies for the income supplement below a gross monthly income of ₪2,823.
Socially, widowhood carries little stigma in Israel: Anglo senior women’s groups include a high share of widows, and ESRA runs English-language bereavement support groups. Widowed men are statistically rarer and integrate more slowly, which makes the structured weekly calendar from the single-men section above their playbook too.
Retirement with disabilities: stack the benefits before you pick the apartment
Retirement with disabilities in Israel starts from a clean legal fact: the Law of Return is unconditional, so a pre-existing disability requires no special approval to make Aliyah. Health fund enrollment is immediate with no pre-existing-condition exclusions, the first 6 months of basic coverage are free, and joining supplementary insurance (mashlim) within 90 days of Aliyah waives every waiting period. Nefesh B’Nefesh’s Olim with Special Needs department (+972-2-659-5800, helpline *3680) plans the medical side before you fly.
The benefits then stack in four layers:
- Income. The full disability pension is ₪4,771 a month in 2026, with reduced rates of ₪2,718 to ₪3,211 for 60% to 74% incapacity. At retirement age it converts to the old-age system, but you keep the disability rate whenever it is higher. My estimate: that retention rule is worth ₪2,933 a month, or ₪35,196 a year, to a fully disabled retiree. Basis: ₪4,771 versus the ₪1,838 individual old-age pension.
- Care at home. A disability acquired after retirement age (mobility loss, vision loss, dementia) does not qualify for the disability pension, but it opens the nursing benefit, gimlat siud (Bituach Leumi’s long-term care benefit, paid mostly as home-care hours): ₪248 a month per weekly care hour, from ₪1,705 a month in cash at level 1 to about ₪7,440 in services at level 6. Apply with form 3000; details, levels, and caregiver costs are in our guide to long-term care and home care in Israel.
- Equipment and transport. Yad Sarah lends over 244,000 pieces of medical equipment a year (wheelchairs, hospital beds, oxygen concentrators) free or for a minimal deposit across 127 branches (02-644-4455), and a recognized disability brings free public transport at any age, no need to wait for 67.
- Housing. A permanent disability of 19% or more cuts purchase tax (mas rechisha) on a primary home by 95%. My estimate: on a ₪2,500,000 sole-residence apartment that turns a ₪20,500 tax bill into about ₪1,030, a saving of roughly ₪19,500. Basis: the 2026 sole-dwelling brackets with the 95% discount applied. The brackets and every other rate are in our purchase tax guide. Bituach Leumi also funds home adaptations (ramps, grab bars, accessible showers) with grants of up to ₪169,740.
Five checks before you commit
- Divorcing: get the actuary’s valuation of every foreign pension in writing before you sign a settlement, and rerun your monthly retirement budget on the post-split numbers.
- Widowed: file the survivors’ claim inside the 12-month window; late filing costs real months of pension.
- Widowed and planning Aliyah as a non-Jewish spouse: complete the application before any remarriage, since remarrying a non-Jew ends the eligibility.
- Disabled and buying: have the 19%+ permanent disability recognition from Bituach Leumi in hand before signing a purchase contract, because purchase tax falls due 60 days after signing.
- Every new oleh: join mashlim supplementary health insurance within 90 days of landing to erase all waiting periods.
The questions single, divorced, and widowed retirees ask us
Can I collect both my own pension and a survivors’ pension?
Yes, partially. You receive your full old-age pension plus half the survivors’ pension, ₪919 a month, for a 2026 combined total of ₪2,757.
Can a non-Jewish widow or widower still make Aliyah?
Yes. The surviving spouse of a Jew, or of a child or grandchild of a Jew, keeps Law of Return eligibility after the partner’s death, provided they have not remarried a non-Jew.
Is my American 401(k) really split in an Israeli divorce?
The portion accrued during the marriage is. Israeli courts treat foreign retirement accounts as marital assets under the 50/50 default and appoint an actuary to calculate the marital share.
What happens to my disability pension when I reach retirement age?
It converts to the old-age system, but you keep the disability rate whenever it is higher, so a fully disabled retiree keeps ₪4,771 a month instead of dropping to ₪1,838.
Can one person live in Israel on the Bituach Leumi pension alone?
No. The ₪1,838 base does not cover urban Israeli living. The income supplement guarantees ₪4,375 for low-income singles, and most single retirees plan around a foreign pension, which Israel leaves untaxed for 10 years after Aliyah.
Verify the rates yourself
- Bituach Leumi (btl.gov.il): old-age, survivors’, disability, and nursing benefit rates, plus form 3000 and the *2637 information line.
- Nefesh B’Nefesh (nbn.org.il): the Sal Klita calculator, widowed-spouse Aliyah applications, and the Olim with Special Needs department (*3680).
- ESRA: English-language counseling, bereavement groups, and volunteer placements.
- AACI: senior programs and English-language guidance on housing and benefits.
- Yad Sarah: equipment lending and volunteer sign-up (02-644-4455).
- gov.il: the rabbinical courts and the Dispute Resolution Unit for divorce proceedings.
Your next step: pick the home that carries the load
For one person, the apartment does double duty: it is the budget line and the social plan. The right building in the right Anglo neighborhood, near a matnas, a synagogue, or a Diur Mugan with built-in security, replaces half the support system a spouse would have provided. Tell us your situation, city, and budget, and we will shortlist homes that fit a one-person retirement, from elevator apartments in Anglo neighborhoods to secured senior residences.
Last verified: July 2026. Bituach Leumi figures are the rates from 1 January 2026; dollar conversions use the working rate of ₪3.00 per US dollar.
