Death Tax - Recovering Excess Lifetime Entitlements ????

The elderly will say that they paid into Social Security and Medicare throughout their careers and therefore they are entitled to the entitlement benefits. But a closer look at the numbers shows that that statement is not true. The elderly are getting more from Social Security and Medicare – even adjusted for interest – than they paid it. They are getting the proverbial ‘free lunch’.

But after death, the Federal Government has the right to recover the overpayments. At death, the Federal Government should calculate, on an individual basis, the monies put into entitlement programs versus the sums taken out. If the withdrawals are higher than the contributions (adjusted for the risk-free rate of interest), the Federal Government should recover the balance.