You might just be taking people too literally. I've heard the same thing -- if they take a job they will lose money. What they really mean is that if they take

You might just be taking people too literally. I've heard the same thing -- if they take a job they will lose money. What they really mean is that if they take a job (trade time for money), they will lose some of the pension they have already earned. This is a real economic loss (even if they might have a few more bucks at the end of the week) to say nothing of their lost time.