Question:
I read on a website that I could receive a special one-time Government Life Insurance dividend. Is this really true?
Answer:
No, this is a hoax. Such dividend announcements are part of a recurring problem of misinformation that dates back to 1965. Unfortunately, this misinformation unnecessarily raises the expectations of veterans and service personnel. The dividend “hoax”, as it is referred to, had its origins in a special dividend that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), then known as the Veterans Administration, did pay to World War II veterans who had National Service Life Insurance policies. Approximately $2.7 billion was paid in 1950 to over 16 million of these veterans under the “1948 special dividend.” Sometime in 1965, the special dividend news announcements of 15 years earlier resurfaced and were mistakenly published by several newspapers. The special dividend had already been paid out to all eligible government life insurance policyholders and there was no new special dividend.
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