Flip side: the money under the matress or in the sock is hard real spendable cash, not bits in a computer or (more relevant to SS) an accounting trick.
So true! If you die before you start collecting social security, your family gets NOTHING!! A wife can collect from her husband's share, but other than that -- ZILCH!! That has always bothered me. I am supporting everyone else, and maybe, just maybe, there will be something left for me -- NOT!