Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a federal program that helps replace lost income for disabled workers who can no longer work.
To qualify for Social Security disability, you’ll need to have worked long enough at a job in which you paid Social Security taxes. “The length depends on your age when you file and how many work credits you’ve received through the Social Security system,” says Raymer Malone, owner of High Income Protection Insurance Agency. You can earn a maximum of four credits for each year you work. In general, you need 40 credits to receive disability benefits, and 20 of those credits need to be earned in the last 10 years before you become disabled. Younger workers may qualify for disability benefits with fewer credits.
In addition, your health has to fit specific requirements. “Your medical condition must have been sustained for at least a year, or be expected to last at least one year, or be expected to result in your death,” says Daniel R. Hill, president of D.R. Hill Wealth Strategies, a Richmond, Virginia, investment advisory firm.
Your physician may consider you to be disabled, but to receive benefits, your claim will need to be approved by the Social Security Administration. “The doctor’s determination is one factor in the determination process, but ultimately it becomes the judgement of the Social Security Administration and their group of authorizing employees,” Hill says.
You can receive Social Security disability benefits as long as you remain disabled. The Social Security Administration periodically reviews claims, and if your condition improves, it could be determined that you no longer meet the criteria for benefits and your payments could be suspended.
If you are receiving Social Security disability benefits and reach full retirement age, your benefits won’t stop. “The name changes from ‘disability benefits' to ‘retirement benefits,' and the benefit amount remains exactly the same,” says David Freitag, a financial planning consultant with MassMutual who specializes in Social Security in Springfield, Massachusetts. “Basically, the disability benefit stops and is replaced by the retirement benefit.”