Many older folks are asking me about getting disability benefits from Social Security. I’ll offer some tips on how to do that in a minute. But first, here are some ground rules that vary depending on your age.
If you are over your full retirement age, forget about it. Once you reach that age, disability benefits are no longer payable. Or to put that another way, the retirement benefit you are getting pays the same rate as any disability benefits you might be due.
People are also reading… But if you are between age 62 and your full retirement age, and are already getting Social Security retirement benefits, you may or may not be eligible for disability payments. Or to be more precise, the closer you are to your full retirement age, the smaller your disability boost will be — and you may decide it’s just not worth all the hassle.
I’ve used the phrase “all the hassle,” twice already. Let me tell you what the hassle is by giving you a quick rundown of the Social Security disability application process. The Social Security Administration contracts out disability decisions to an agency in each state that is staffed with doctors and other medically trained personnel. They are the folks who decide if you meet the legal definition of “disability” for Social Security purposes. In a nutshell, the rules say your impairment must be one that will keep you from doing any kind of work for which you are suited and one that is expected to last at least 12 months.
If your claim is denied, you must decide if it is worth it to appeal. If you decide to do that, the first appeal is usually just a review of your case by the state agency that made the first decision. If your claim is denied again, then you can file for a hearing before a Social Security judge. Because of backlogs, those hearings can take about a year to set up.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Fear Over Social Security’s Future Leads Some to Claim Retirement Benefits EarlySome Americans are claiming Social Security years before full retirement age out of fear their benefits will be cut once the program runs short on cash
Read more »
Social Security cuts vs. tax hikes: The Biden budget battle lines are drawnThe battle lines for 2024 are already drawn as the debt ceiling fight looms. For as much as politics have changed in the last eight years, the argument between POTUS and SpeakerMcCarthy is one that Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill would have recognized.
Read more »
Report: Millionaires have stopped paying into Social Security for the year, while others will keep payingIn very basic math, someone who earns $83,333 a month ($1 million annually) finished paying into Social Security by the end of February.
Read more »
Missing From Biden's Budget: His Plan for Social SecurityWASHINGTON — President Joe Biden campaigned for the White House on a plan to shore up Social Security’s finances over the coming decades and increase benefits for the lowest-earning retirees, all by raising taxes on people earning more than $400,000 a year. An independent analysis estimated that the idea would have lifted 360,000 older adults out of poverty immediately. That proposal has vanished from Biden’s governing agenda, even though the program has become a focal point in a brewing battle
Read more »
Social Security update: Second of March's double direct payments worth $914 arrives in 21 daysIn three weeks, Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries will receive the second of two payments in March. The first round of funds was sent out to eligible recipients on March 1, and the next payment will be delivered on March 31.
Read more »
Biden's 2024 budget doesn't include plan to shore up Social Security's financesWhile Biden's budget addresses Medicare's solvency, it doesn't include a similar plan for Social Security despite weeks of political back-and-forth on the issue.
Read more »