A few things to consider...
1. How safe is the pension? This is impossible to predict for certain, but I would be concerned about a non-profit being able to pay their full pension benefits 18 years from now and then for however long your wife lives. What happens if the company goes out of business?
2. Is there a survivor benefit or does the pension payment stop upon death of the beneficiary (your wife)?
3. The 72,000, invested decently (6% return) will end up as 211,000 at age 65. At a 4% withdrawal rate, you could take about $700 dollars per month AND you'd still have the principle to pass on to your heirs/surviving spouse or charity etc. when you die.
4. What other retirement assets do you have? Is this a majority of your retirement assets or just a small %?
5. What is the tax treatment of the pension payment? You might be able to better control your taxes owed if you have it in an IRA and can convert to a Roth in years where your taxable income is minimal.
6. Does the pension have a cost of living adjustment or is it a flat $982 for life? If it's flat, I would strongly lean towards taking the payout since inflation will erode that spending power pretty fast whereas if you have the ability to invest it yourself, you at least have a chance of outpacing (or at least matching) inflation.
I hope that helps, there are a lot of things to consider. If it were me, I'd probably take the rollover and invest it myself but that is dependent upon many factors including how comfortable you are with managing your own investments and the answers to the points above.
Good luck, keep us posted on the outcome.
