Although they cannot draw more than the maximum amount - which is approximately equal to a good health annuity - there is more flexibility over the death benefits.

BBC: Enhanced annuities: Who can benefit?

The number of soldiers who died between 1861 and 1865, an estimated 620, 000, is approximately equal to the total American fatalities in the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War combined.

NPR: 'Republic of Suffering' Author Drew Gilpin Faust

Though lately birth rates have declined, the approximately 4 million children being born per year is equal to the early 2000s.

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