Social Security benefits are complicated, and it’s frequently impossible to fully understand them until certain problems occur and you have to deal with them.
For instance, many people might not know that family members of a deceased Social Security beneficiary are also eligible to receive survivor benefits in the form of a lump sum death payment.
The cost has been constant at $255 since this was put into effect in 1954. Additionally, this amount is today but a drop in the ocean of rising death costs, although in the past it would have been extremely beneficial to bereaved families.
Since this amount was intended to help bereaved families with the cost of funerals, the fact that it is now impossible to use it to pay for even a small fraction of a basic funeral puts further strain on families.
In an effort to balance the scales, lawmakers came together to create the Social Security Survivor Benefits Equity Act after realizing the impact this meager amount had over the years.
The recent enhancement to the Social Security death benefit bill
The new proposal, which was put out by Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont and backed by Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, would raise the death benefit to $2,900 in order to account for current inflation rates.
Families greatly benefited from the initial $255 lump sum death payment, which was granted when the average funeral expense was only $700. The National Funeral Directors Association estimates that the average cost of that same service now would be $6,280.
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Since “people often snicker at the amount of money the Social Security death benefit, and it at least needs to be increased to be in line with inflation,” Thompson said, the bill is well-liked and shouldn’t face much opposition. Families frequently need to gather money to bury their loved ones, thus this will be a huge help to them during these difficult times.
The shift would begin as early as 2025 if the law is approved, and the $2,900 will be immediately paid into the accounts of qualified families.
