Working While on Social Security Disability
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a benefit earned from working, available to those who temporarily or permanently become unable to do so. Currently, over 8 million disabled American workers count on SSDI for financial help to partially offset their loss of employment income because of their disability. The rules for obtaining those benefits are necessarily strict to prevent program abuse and fraud but, once approved, SSDI benefits provide a crucial financial lifeline for disable workers.
SSDI is intentionally designed to replace only a portion of pre-disability earnings, and beneficiaries often need to find an additional source of income which, as far as their disability will allow, may lead them to seek part-time work to supplement their SSDI benefit. This is, in fact, permitted by Social Security as long as those earnings are very modest and don’t exceed set SSDI limits. Indeed, Social Security encourages SSDI recipients to attempt to return to work by providing a special program for that purpose known as “Ticket to Work.” Ticket to Work allows SSDI beneficiaries to perform limited Substantial Gainful Activity in order to transition back to the full time work force. But working while collecting SSDI has some very strict rules which must be followed to protect against losing those disability benefits. All of this – the rules for eligibility, the rules for working while on SSDI, and how the Ticket to Work program works – are explained in this article by Ashley Kilroy appearing at Yahoo! Finance. Click here to read more.
Also, if you’re unsure about your individual situation under Social Security or have questions about your personal benefit entitlements, note that the AMAC Foundation provides an independent free-to-the-public Social Security Advisory service to help Americans navigate the complexities of this program. Learn more about it here…