Every month, the bank accounts of millions of retirees fill up with deposits from government programs.
Sometimes, the government needs its money back.
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That's what happened to 74-year-old Roland Taylor, a partially blind veteran who, unbeknownst to him, had been overpaid by Veterans Affairs for nearly a decade.
Recovery time
Taylor, of Griffin, Georgia, reportedly received $120,634 from the government by mistake.
Now, the VA wants him to pay it all back, according to a report by local Fox affiliate FOX 5 last year.
The problem is that for years he's been billed $1,000 a month, which he's already spent.
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He applied for disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2012 with the help of friends.
The Vietnam vet was approved and began receiving an additional $1,000 on top of Social Security disability benefits.
After he got married, the VA told him his family made too much money.
Then he got worse news.
Since he was already receiving Social Security benefits for his disability, he was not supposed to get paid at all.
They told him he needed to pay it all back.
“I don't have $20,” he told FOX 5.
“They paid you a lot, they didn't realize it at the time, and now they're going to blame you for getting it back,” he said.
Eventually, he received relief — at least temporarily — from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which temporarily halted collections for thousands of overpaid veterans like Taylor.
While VA and Social Security overpayments are rare, it may be wise to check to make sure you get the correct amount.
Golden years?
Millions of Americans are heading into retirement with little or no savings.
This left many dependent on a relatively small amount of money from the Social Security Administration.
Often times, they find that this is not enough to get the retirement they want.
Or they find it unreliable – like a group of grandparents who were in a “bad panic” after discovering they were overpaid by $84,000.
Some have sought expert advice. Financial counseling host George Kamel recently shared advice for a 60-year-old with no savings.
One 55-year-old millionaire discovered that even he didn't have enough to retire comfortably.
See how a 25-year-old plans to retire early.
