Much of what the federal government spends each year are benefit payments to individuals. As a recent inspector general report showed, many times those payments go to the wrong people, or are made in the wrong amounts, and in some cases to people who are no longer alive.

The so called improper payments can be significant: From 2006 to 2010, the Office of Personnel Management for instance, paid $601 million to retirees who are dead.

While President Obama set a goal of preventing $50 billion in improper payments and recapturing $2 billion in erroneous payments and the administration has taken important steps towards achieving the President’s goals, federal agencies are still working hard to reduce over payments. (Click the infographic above to see an expanded view.)