- Workers and their employers pay Social Security or "payroll" taxes with every paycheck. For each $1,120 of income on which these taxes are paid, you earn a single work credit, and you can earn four credits in a year. Self-employed workers pay the entire payroll tax, while in an ordinary job the employer and the employee each pay 50 percent of the tax.
- To be insured for disability, you must have a minimum number of work credits paid in to the Social Security system. From age 31 through 42, you need 20 credits. At age 44, you need 22 credits, and the minimum rises by two credits every two years afterward. From age 18 through 23, you need six credits, and from age 24 through 30 you need credits for working half the time between age 21 and the time you became disabled.
- When you apply for Social Security disability, the office taking the application will screen your work record for eligibility. If you do not have sufficient work credits, your application for disability will be rejected. But the agency will also screen the application for Supplemental Security Income, or SSI. This benefit program does not require that you have work credits. Instead, it is means-tested and limits the amount of income and resources you have in order to qualify.
- If your income and resources fall below the limits, then you may qualify for SSI. You must submit a Disability Report with the names of treating doctors so that Social Security can get your medical records and review your condition. If the agency finds that you are disabled, you will earn monthly SSI benefits, as well as back benefits that begin on the date you applied.
- Each year, Social Security mails you a Benefit Statement, which gives a history of your employment and earnings. The statement will reveal if you are eligible for disability and estimate the amount of money you will earn while on Social Security retirement or disability. If you did not receive a Benefit Statement, you can request one by calling Social Security at 800-772-1213.
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