Senator Rod Zimmer, whose 24 year old wife made international headlines last year during an incident of airplane anger, has retired from the Senate due to health concerns. The 70 year old raised eyebrows in Ottawa after marrying Maygan Sensenberger, 46 years his junior. His young wife was convicted for the airline spat, but charges of uttering threats to her husband and endangering the safety of the aircraft were later dropped.

Appointed by Paul Martin in 2005, Zimmer will collect an annual, indexed to inflation pension of $31,601. The law that regulates Senator and MP pensions provides that in the event of their death, their surviving spouse will continue to receive 60 per cent of their pension. Sensenberger and Zimmer were only married for a quarter of his Senate term, entitling her to 15 per cent of his total pension.

Assuming Zimmer lives until age 90 - the average life expectancy of pension plan members - Sensenberger will begin to collect a pension in 2033, at 44 years old. Indexed to inflation, she would collect $532,568, assuming she also lives to age 90. In the event that she were to begin collecting immediately, she would collect $644,000 by the time she reaches age 90 in 2079.

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