Can Your Social Security Payment Substitute For A Salary?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides people who cannot work at their jobs with a valuable benefit. If you are able to qualify based on the stringent medical condition requirements and other criteria, you may be able to earn monthly Social Security Disability monetary payments. Many applicants are curious about how much they can expect to receive, so read on to learn more about the dollars and cents aspect of Social Security Disability.

Meeting the qualifications: The amount you will receive is based in part on the criteria to qualify in the first place, at least for one of the two kinds of Social Security Disability. While SSI (Supplemental Security Insurance) requires only that you meet the medical qualifications and have limited assets, SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) is based on how much work you have done over the years and how much you earned.

More about SSDI: SSDI qualifications are based on something the SSA calls work credits, and the more you have earned and worked the higher your potential SSDI monthly payment will be. You may have noticed a Social Security deduction from your paycheck; that is your insurance that's put aside for you in case you become unable to work (and as your retirement fund). The good news is that there is no need to carry out a complicated calculation on work credits and earnings yourself, the information you want is available online.

Simply register at the SSA website mysocialsecurity.com and there you can view  (after registering) how much you can expect to receive if you became disabled today, as well as a lot more valuable information. Here, you can check your earnings and make sure that your employers have been paying the SSA deductions property, as well. It should be noted that SSI applicants can also use the website to get an estimate of their probable monthly amount of benefits.

Only a portion of earnings: Once you verify your earnings and the estimated monthly benefit amount, you may find yourself surprised and a bit dismayed. The hard truth is that few people even come close to replacing their former salaries with their SSDI payments. As a matter of fact, even top earners will find that the SSA limits benefits to a maximum of $2687 for the current 2017 year, regardless of salary.

Programs that allow you to earn more money: Although there are limits on the amount you can earn, there are guidelines in place that allow you to earn some money to supplement the SSA payment. Further, there are also programs that allow applicants to earn even more money for a limited amount of time, such as the Trial Work Period program.

For more information, talk to a professional like Cohen & Siegel LLP.