Most people don’t know that a veteran may be eligible for both Social Security benefits and Veterans’ benefits – and this is particularly true for survivors’ benefits. Although both disability systems have their problems and delays, often Social Security will be granted sooner than VA disability benefits and payment are based on work history outside the military, a benefit source for many of our new 30-something wounded warriors. The VA may only grant payments for the service connected part of a disability, which may not be the whole story. Looks at the stats from a recent study:
More than one-third of America’s 54 million Social Security beneficiaries are veterans or family members living with them. Social Security currently pays benefits to more than 9 million veterans — or about four in 10 veterans. See full story here:
The vast majority of the active duty community’s 1.4 million members, 700,000 spouses and 1.2 million children and the total selected reserve community’s 1.1 million members, 400,000 spouses and 650,000 children, are eligible for Social Security’s disability and life insurance benefits if a service member becomes severely disabled or dies.
Approximately 771,000 veterans receive Social Security disabled worker benefits, averaging $1,100 to $1,200 per month.
Social Security’s young survivor’s benefits are particularly important to the four in 10 active duty members who are married with children and the one in 20 who are single parents.