San Antonio Business Reports:
…of the more than 53 million Americans receiving Social Security benefits, nearly one-third are not retired workers or their dependents. They are disabled workers and their families, or the survivors of a deceased worker. These non-retirement Social Security benefits can be especially important to young workers because about one in eight young people will die before retirement, and about one in four will become disabled.
While the death of a husband, wife or parent is emotionally devastating, it often can be financially devastating as well. Social Security provides a monthly survivor’s benefit payment to help the qualified family members of a deceased worker.
Social Security disability protection is equally valuable. Few workers have an employer-provided, long-term disability policy. With Social Security, however, the average worker has the equivalent of a disability insurance policy that pays monthly benefits to workers and their families, based on the workers’ lifetime earnings. See story here: