If you know you have a qualifying disability, you may be wondering how much money you could get from SSDI. SS Disability is not intended to completely replace the income you earned during your past employment; the benefits are only meant to help you with essentials. As such, you will not receive the same amount of money you were once getting through employment.
Your SSDI benefit amount depends on your total lifetime earnings before your disability starts. The severity of your condition does not affect your benefit amount, nor does your age. However, there are a few things that do affect your SSDI benefits.
Certain types of payments can lower your monthly benefit amount. These include:
- Retirement benefits from the state or local government.
- Workers’ compensation from a job-related injury or illness.
- Temporary benefits from the state.
- Civil service disability benefits.
If you receive any of the payments above, the SSA may reduce your SSDI benefits because it sees them as forms of income.
Certain types of payments are not factored into the SSDI benefit amount. For example, the SSA will not reduce your benefits if you receive Veteran Administration (VA) benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Currently, the average Social Security Disability payment is $1,470 per month. The SSA limits the total amount of money that SSDI recipients and their families can receive. The family maximum is 85 percent of the disabled worker’s lifetime earnings.
The SSA has a benefits calculator on its website that can help you estimate your expected disability amount. To use the calculator, you will need the following information:
- Your date of birth.
- Your yearly earnings for each year between 1951 and 2022.
- The age at which you stopped or plan to stop working.
Even if you qualify for SSDI, you will not get your Social Security disability benefits right away. There is a five-month waiting period from the time the SSA approves your application to the time when you receive your disability benefits. You will receive your first disability check on the sixth full month after the SSA determined that your disability began.
For example, if the SSA determines your disability started in February 2022, you would receive your first payment in August of 2022.
However, there is no waiting period for SSDI benefits if your disability is the result of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In this case, SSA pays out SSDI benefits the month after it determines the disability began.
By Admin –
