So many of my recent posts have been discouraging that I thought I’d post some good news for a change.
A man in Somerset, England has found an enormous cache of Roman coins. Its value is believed to be around $1.5 million.
A cure for cancer has been found to be 100% effective in mice and has produced “surprisingly good” results in vitro with human cervical, prostate, and breast cancer cells.
A reforestation project under way in north eastern Panjshir province of Afghanistan promises to reduce soil erosion, landslides, and instability of the sides of the valley.
Finally, I have mixed feelings in reporting this as good news but, since it’s certainly good news from the poor woman’s point-of-view, I’ll report it that way here. A retired teacher living in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook after first being dunned for $4,000 by the Social Security Administration has received an unexpected $24,000 payoff from the administration:
Fran Lubelchek and the Social Security Administration have a long and twisted history.
When the 70-year-old retired schoolteacher began receiving benefits five years ago, the government miscalculated her monthly payment. By the time it realized the error years later, Social Security had overpaid the Northbrook resident by roughly $14,000.
To pay the money back, Lubelchek and Social Security worked out a deal. Because she received a teacher’s pension, her correct monthly Social Security payment was small, about $100. To repay the $14,000, Lubelchek agreed to receive no monthly benefit until she was almost 85.
After a number of twists and turns here’s the final resolution:
But Social Security employees also discovered that many years ago, wages Lubelchek had not earned were attributed to her account. Based on those erroneous wages, Lubelchek had more money deducted from her paychecks than should have been.
The extra deductions meant Lubelchek had paid an extra $37,218.70 into the system.
To make things right, the government took the $12,591.70 Lubelchek owed Social Security from the $37,218.70 it owed her.
The end result: Social Security deposited $24,627 into her checking account Wednesday morning.
Good for her. I’ve now sent the same letter three times to Social Security about a similar matter over the past 6 months and I haven’t even received a single reply.
Anybody have any good stock tips for companies that sell metal detectors?