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I think the system needs to be cleaned up.
My father died when I was nine months old. My mother got a nice fat check from the government - from the military insurance (understandable) - but also my mother AND I got check from SSN. My mother collected until she remarried, and I collected until I was 18. I can see how the death of a family member and more importantly a bread winner can be a huge problem - even more so in the late 1960s - but a short time later my mother was living comfortable because she was in a new relationship. They put off marriage because of that monthly check. Me on the other hand I collected until I was 18. Hell, I joined the Marines at 17 so I was collecting two checks form the government - SSN and also my Marie Corps paycheck. Kind of pointless on both accounts.
A friend of mine recently had his wife die on him. They had two kids. Not only does he get a check from SSN for the death of his wife, but his two children get it too. He's now making more money from monthly death benefits than he was working full time, so he decided to quit working. With the insurance money he got he paid off the house and bought himself a nice truck, and he's living nicely. Seems like a waste of tax payer money.
One of my friends is 100% retried from the US Army AND the US Post Office. He has water on the brain, and when it's affecting him it's completely disabling. However, he hasn't had any medical problems in the past ten years (other than the occasional headaches) but he's fully retired and just collects his paychecks.
Seems like a waste of a lot of money to me.
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