To qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), you usually must be insured and have a disability.

However, there are a few situations where you may qualify for benefits even if you’ve never worked or don’t have a disability:

• If your disability began before you turned 22, you may qualify for Disabled Adult Child (DAC) benefits.
• If you are 18 or younger, you may qualify for Child’s Benefits if one of your parents gets Social Security retirement benefits or disability insurance benefits, or is deceased.
• If your spouse or ex-spouse qualifies for SSDI benefits or Social Security retirement benefits, or qualified before dying, you may also qualify for benefits.

None of these benefits is automatic; you must apply for them at Social Security.

How to Apply

You can apply for SSDI benefits:

• Online (which starts the application process immediately instead of having to wait for an appointment)
• By calling Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY) to make an appointment to apply either:
  • Over the phone
  • In person at your local Social Security office.

Getting Your Application Ready

Get this information ready for your SSDI application:

• Names, addresses, and phone numbers of all doctors, hospitals, and clinics that have treated you medically and the dates of treatment
• Names of any medications you take
• Copies of any medical records you have
• Your Social Security number and the Social Security numbers of your spouse and any children under the age of 18
• A certified copy of your birth certificate
• Proof of U.S. citizenship or legal residency (if you were born in another country)
• A certified copy of your military discharge papers (Form DD 214), if you were in the military
• Your most recent W-2 Form or, if you’re self-employed, your most recent tax return
• Information on any Workers’ Compensation you’ve gotten
• A summary of all your jobs during the past 5 years (names of jobs and dates of employment)

Social Security provides a detailed checklist of the information you need to complete the application process.

Other Benefits

It takes Social Security a while to decide whether you have a disability and, if you qualify, SSDI benefits don’t begin until five months after your disability began. If you are approved, you start getting cash benefits, but have to wait another two years before you automatically start getting Medicare health coverage.

While you are waiting for Social Security to review your application and then for Medicare to begin, you should see what else might help you. At first, try to use your job's sick pay or vacation pay and see whether your company has a short-term or long-term disability insurance plan.

Then, you can apply for other benefits, including:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a monthly cash benefit for people with disabilities who have low income and low resources. Unlike SSDI, you do not need to have worked in the past to get SSI. With SSI, you automatically qualify for Medicaid health coverage. Learn more in DB101’s SSI article.
• Medicaid, free health coverage for people with low to moderate income. Learn more in DB101’s How Health Benefits Work article.
• The Food Assistance Program (formerly Food Stamps), a monthly cash benefit for people with low income that helps pay for food. Learn more about Food Assistance Program.
• The Family Independence Program (FIP), a monthly cash benefit for families with children that also helps parents find work. Learn more about FIP and other cash assistance programs.
• State Disability Assistance (SDA), monthly cash assistance for adults with disabilities who have low income and low assets. Caretakers of a disabled person and seniors 65 years old or older may also qualify. Learn more about SDA.

You can apply for Medicaid, the Food Assistance Program, and FIP by using MIBridges or by going to your county human services agency and submitting a paper application.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) may take six months or more to decide if you have a disability. If you have a disability and are insured, you qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.

Social Security sends you a letter called a disability determination notice, which tells you if they approved or denied your application.

Note: If you are an adult and your disability began before you turned 22, you may qualify for Disabled Adult Child (DAC) benefits even if you do not have a work record.

If You Are Approved for SSDI

If you are approved for SSDI:

• SSDI benefits start at least five full months after your disability began. This is called the waiting period.
  • Note: If you are approved for SSDI more than five months after your disability began, you may get a retroactive benefits payment that covers the months since the five-month waiting period ended. Example: You are approved for SSDI eight months after your disability began, so you get a one-time payment that covers your SSDI benefits for the last three months (since the fifth month after your disability began).
• The amount you get depends on your Social Security earnings record. Generally, the more you worked and paid in Social Security taxes, the more you get in SSDI benefits.
• Your SSDI benefits go into your bank account automatically each month. If you don’t have a bank account, you can have your SSDI benefits put onto a Direct Express debit card that you can use in stores to make purchases.
• Your children under age 19 may also qualify to get benefits based on your work record in any month you get SSDI benefits. Your spouse may also get benefits if age 62 or older or if caring for a child under 16. It doesn't matter whether they have disabilities. Learn more about these benefits.
• Medicare health coverage automatically starts after you get SSDI or DAC benefits for two years (24 months). Learn more about Medicare in DB101's How Health Benefits Work article.
  • Note: While you are waiting for Medicare coverage to begin, you need other health coverage. One option is Medicaid. Learn more about Medicaid in DB101's How Health Benefits Work article.

If You Are Denied SSDI Benefits

You may be denied benefits if Social Security says you are not insured or you do not have a disability. If you are not insured, you may still qualify for another Social Security benefit for people with disabilities called Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Learn more about SSI in DB101’s SSI article.

Appeals

You can file an appeal if you feel that Social Security made an incorrect decision about things like the disability determination, a Continuing Disability Review (CDR), or an overpayment:

• After you get a denial letter, you have 60 days to file an appeal. Do it quickly. If you don’t appeal within 60 days, you may lose the right to appeal.
  • If you are appealing an overpayment, appeal within 30 days to avoid having your benefits withheld while your appeal is reviewed.
  • Note: Social Security figures that you get a letter within five days after they sent it.
• If you are denied SSDI benefits for medical reasons, you can file your appeal online or call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY) and ask them to send you an appeal form. If you file online, you need to mail or deliver any new information to Social Security about your medical condition, including updates on any treatment, tests, or doctor visits.
• If you are denied SSDI benefits for nonmedical reasons, you can request a review from your local Social Security office or by calling Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY).

File an appeal as quickly as possible. Once you file your appeal, it may take several months to resolve.

Note: If your application for SSDI benefits is denied and you disagree with the decision, file an appeal. Do not just fill out the application forms again — that would be refiling.

For Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), you must tell Social Security right away if:

• You start or stop work
• You reported your work, but your duties, hours, or pay change; or
• You start paying expenses for work because of your disability.

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In addition to reporting your earnings, you also need to let Social Security know if your address changes, if you get any other disability benefits, such as Workers’ Compensation, or if you use any SSDI deductions when figuring out your income. If you don’t report your earnings, you risk getting an overpayment and you may have to pay back those benefits to Social Security.

To report changes, contact your local Social Security office and ask how and when you should report your earnings. You may be able to report:

• By phone, mail, or in person at your local Social Security office, or
• With the my Social Security online reporting tool.

Note: If you get SSDI benefits and also get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, you must report your income to SSDI and SSI separately. Learn more about SSI income reporting in DB101's SSI article.

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Social Security periodically reviews your situation. That’s why you should get a binder and keep copies of all your records from the last five years in it, including:

• Your pay stubs
• Documentation of work incentives, such as receipts for your Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) or Blind Work Expenses (BWEs), and
• Any letters you get from Social Security.

Take your binder with you whenever you go to a Social Security office, and take notes in it every time you communicate with Social Security.

When Social Security Checks to See if Your Situation Has Changed

Occasionally, Social Security does two different types of Continuing Disability Review (CDR) to make sure you still qualify for SSDI benefits:

• A work CDR means Social Security looks at your earnings history. They check things like whether you have earned more than the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level and whether you have documented work incentives, such as IRWEs. Have records of your work, such as pay stubs, for five or more years, in case Social Security asks to see them.
• A medical CDR means Social Security looks at your medical condition to make sure you still have a disability. You may need to share medical records or other information.
  • After you get SSDI benefits for two years or more, Social Security does not do a medical CDR just because you work.
  • For as long as you are a client of Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) or the Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP), or are actively working with an Employment Network (EN) and making timely progress in the Ticket to Work Program, Social Security does not do a medical CDR.
  • Social Security Section 301 rules mean that if you have been in a work-related program, you might keep getting benefits even if a medical CDR says you no longer have a disability. Work-related programs may include Ticket to Work, Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), agencies that use individualized plans for employment, Plans to Achieve Self-Support (PASS), and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Learn more about Section 301.

If Social Security contacts you, make sure to read everything they send you and follow any instructions they give. If you have trouble filling out a form or getting documentation, ask for help at your local Social Security office or talk to a Benefits Planner.

Overpayments

Social Security may send you SSDI benefits even when you shouldn't be getting any. That's called an overpayment. If there’s an overpayment, Social Security sends you a letter telling you that they made an overpayment and explaining how much money you must pay back.

By reporting changes in your earned income to your local Social Security office, you can lower the odds of an overpayment, but even so, Social Security might overpay you.

Deal with an overpayment notice right away. The overpayment letter asks for the money to be returned within 30 days, but Social Security is willing to work out a reasonable monthly payment plan with you. Contact Social Security immediately to talk about your options. If you think Social Security may have sent you an overpayment, talk to a Benefits Planner so you can get expert advice for your situation.

If you think an overpayment wasn’t your fault and you can’t pay it back because you need the money to pay for living expenses, you can ask for a waiver of the overpayment. If the waiver is granted, you don’t have to repay the overpayment. To get the waiver form, call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY) and ask for Form SSA-632.

To figure out if you are insured by Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Social Security does two tests that look at your work history. If you pass both tests, you are insured. If you do not pass either one of these tests, it does not matter if you have a disability, because you are not covered by this insurance program.

If you are insured and Social Security also says you have a disability, you may qualify for SSDI benefits.

Note: If you are an adult and you have a disability that began before you turned 22, you may be able to get a Social Security benefit called Disabled Adult Child (DAC). You do not need to have worked to qualify for DAC. To qualify for DAC, one of your parents must:

• Be getting SSDI benefits or Social Security retirement benefits, or
• Have died and worked long enough under Social Security to qualify you for DAC.

For DAC, you must be 18 years old or older and you must have a disability. Social Security does the same disability determination for DAC that it does for SSDI. As with SSDI, Medicare health coverage begins two years after you start getting DAC benefits.

Learn more about DAC.

Work History Test One: Have You Worked Recently?

This is also called the Recent Work Test. You need to have worked enough recently and paid Social Security taxes to pass this test. Here’s how it works:

If you don’t pass the Recent Work Test, you are not insured and do not qualify for SSDI benefits.

Work History Test Two: How Long Have You Worked?

This test is also called the Duration of Work Test. You need to have worked and paid Social Security taxes a certain number of years during your entire lifetime to pass this test. Here’s how it works:

Note: If you have worked in another country, Social Security may count those years of work. Read more about “totalization” benefits.

If you don’t pass the Duration of Work Test, you are not insured and do not qualify for SSDI.

If you pass both work tests and have a disability, you may qualify for SSDI benefits.

In addition to checking whether you are insured, Social Security checks whether you have a disability that meets their criteria. To figure this out, Social Security looks at everything you submit with your SSDI application and follows a five-step process.

If you are insured and have a disability, you may qualify for SSDI benefits.

Note: Social Security does not follow these steps if you are blind and instead uses special rules. Usually, if your vision in your better eye cannot be corrected to better than 20/200 or your field of view is 20 degrees or less, you are considered blind. Learn more about Social Security’s rules on blindness.

Step 1: Are You Working at a Level of Substantial Gainful Activity?

If you are working and your monthly earnings before taxes are deducted are higher than the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level, you do not have a disability according to Social Security and you do not qualify for SSDI benefits. In 2024, SGA is $1,550.

If you are not working or if your earnings are less than the SGA level, Social Security moves on to the next step to decide if you have a disability.

SGA if You Are Self-Employed

If you are self-employed, your work is evaluated differently when it is compared to SGA:

If you’re self-employed, Social Security looks at more than just your income, because the amount of money you actually get from your business may depend on many different factors. Instead, they use three tests.

If Social Security decides that you are not doing Substantial Gainful Activity using all three tests, you may qualify for SSDI.

Note: If you are self-employed and either blind or over age 55, there are special SGA rules. For more information, talk to a Benefits Planner.

Self-Employed: Test 1

If you perform services that are significant to the operation of your business and you get substantial income from the business, Social Security likely decides that you have done SGA and you do not qualify for SSDI.

Social Security considers the services you perform significant if:

• You operate a business (other than a farm) all by yourself, or
• You and at least one other person run the business and you do more than half of the management time. For example, if it takes 60 hours a month to manage your business and you manage it for 45 of those hours, your services are significant.

Social Security considers your income substantial if:

• Your net countable income is greater than $1,550 per month. To figure out your net countable income, Social Security deducts your business expenses and the value of unpaid help, Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs), and unincurred business expenses from your net income.

If Test 1 does not show you are doing Substantial Gainful Activity, Social Security moves on to Test 2.

Self-Employed: Test 2

Social Security examines the work you do to see if it counts as SGA. They look at things like hours worked, skills needed, responsibilities, and effort involved.

If the work you do is about the same as the work of nondisabled people who are in similar businesses in your community, Social Security decides that you are doing SGA and you do not qualify for SSDI.

If Test 2 does not show you are doing Substantial Gainful Activity, Social Security moves on to Test 3.

Self-Employed: Test 3

Social Security looks at your monthly work. If your work is worth at least $1,550 per month in its impact on your business, or if you have to pay someone at least $1,550 per month to do that work, you are doing Substantial Gainful Activity.

If Test 3 does not show that you are doing Substantial Gainful Activity, Social Security moves on to the next step of the disability determination process and you may qualify for SSDI.

Step 2: Is Your Medical Condition Severe?

For Social Security to say you have a disability, your medical condition must be expected to either:

• Significantly limit your ability to perform basic work activities for at least 12 consecutive months, or
• Result in death.

If it does not, you are not considered to have a disability and do not qualify for SSDI benefits.

If your disability meets this standard, Social Security moves on to the next step to decide if you have a disability.

Step 3: Is Your Medical Condition on Social Security’s List of Impairments?

Social Security’s List of Impairments includes many mental and physical disorders. If your condition is on the list, Social Security decides that you have a disability and skips steps 4 and 5.

If your condition is not on the list, Social Security evaluates whether your condition is as severe as a condition that is on the list. If it is, Social Security decides that you have a disability and skips steps 4 and 5.

If your condition is not as severe, Social Security moves on to the next step to decide if you have a disability.

Step 4: Can You Do the Same Work You Did Before?

If your condition doesn’t stop you from doing the work you did before, Social Security says you do not have a disability and do not qualify for SSDI benefits.

If your medical condition does stop you from doing the same work you did before, Social Security moves on to the final step to decide if you have a disability.

Step 5: Can You Do Any Other Type of Work?

If you can’t do the work you used to do, Social Security looks at your skills and your condition to see if there is other work you could do.

If your condition doesn’t stop you from doing other work and earning at the SGA level, you are not considered to have a disability and do not qualify for SSDI benefits.

If your medical condition does stop you from doing other work and earning at the SGA level, Social Security says that you have a disability, as long as you meet the other four criteria.

If you are insured and have a disability, you may qualify for SSDI benefits.

If you’re getting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, it’s because your disability prevents you from working and earning enough to cover your expenses. However, you might want to give work a chance. That’s why SSDI has rules and incentives that can help you work without having to worry that you’ll lose the benefits you need.

For most people, SSDI’s work incentives function like a three-stage process that starts at the same time your SSDI benefits begin:

1. During the Trial Work Period (TWP), you can work and get SSDI benefits at the same time, no matter how much you earn.
2. After the Trial Work Period, the three-year Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE) lets you work and get benefits for every month that your earnings are below the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level ($1,550 in 2024; $2,590 if you’re blind).
3. For the first five years after you stop getting benefits, Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) means that if your earned income drops below the SGA level, you can quickly get back on SSDI benefits without having to completely reapply.

These three incentives mean that you can get a job and see how it goes. If it goes well, you’ll be in a better financial situation than before. If it doesn’t go well, you will be able to get SSDI benefits and be in the same situation as you were before you tried working.

DB101’s SSDI Work Rules Focus is a detailed example story showing SSDI’s work incentives.

DB101's SSDI and Work videos can also help you understand what you should know about working while you get benefits.

On SSDI? Get a quick estimate of how working may affect your income

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Trial Work Period (TWP)

After your SSDI benefits begin, you automatically enter your Trial Work Period (TWP). During the TWP, you can work for up to nine months in a five-year window without losing your benefits. During this time, it doesn’t matter how much you make at work; you still get your full SSDI benefits. This lets you try out work without having to worry about losing your SSDI benefits.

Here’s how it works:

Each month your gross earnings (earnings before taxes) are over the Trial Work level ($1,110 in 2024) is called a Trial Work month. (This Trial Work amount changes every year.)

You can work for nine Trial Work months over the course of a five-year window without losing your SSDI benefits. It doesn’t matter how much you make and it doesn’t matter whether your Trial Work months are in a row or spread out over the five years.

If you earn less in a month than the Trial Work level, you keep getting SSDI benefits and do not use up a Trial Work month.

Note: Before you start working, check with Social Security or a Benefits Planner to see if you've already used up any Trial Work months. You may have used up some or all of your Trial Work months in the past without realizing it.

Count Your SSDI Trial Work Months:

Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE)

Once you use up all nine Trial Work months during a five-year window, your Trial Work Period is over and your three-year Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE) begins.

During your EPE, you continue to get SSDI benefits for any month in which your gross monthly earnings are below the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level ($1,550 per month in 2024; $2,590 if you’re blind).

Here’s how it works:

The first time your monthly gross earnings go over the SGA level during the EPE, there’s a three-month Grace Period. For three months, you keep getting SSDI benefits no matter how much you make. Once your Grace Period ends, you do not get SSDI benefits in any month that you earn more than the SGA level.

If your earned income goes back under the SGA level, you can call Social Security and get your benefits reinstated. During the EPE, you can keep getting SSDI benefits for any month during which your earnings are below the SGA level.

At the end of the three-year EPE, if your earnings are below the SGA level, you keep getting SSDI benefits. If you are earning more than the SGA level, your SSDI benefits may end. If you earn more than the SGA level one month and your earned income drops below the SGA level the next month, you may no longer be able to get SSDI benefits reinstated automatically.

Deductions

When you apply for benefits, during the Extended Period of Eligibility, and during Expedited Reinstatement, there are some deductions that may help you lower your gross monthly earnings so that Social Security doesn’t count everything you make. Deductions can help you stay below the SGA level, so that you can work and get SSDI benefits.

Note: You cannot use these deductions during the Trial Work Period.

Two of the most common deductions are Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) and subsidized earnings:

Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs)

IRWEs are costs related to your disability that you have to pay to do your job. IRWEs must be expenses that you pay for, not your health insurance or anyone else. Keep your receipts for all expenses you think are IRWEs. You need to include them with your pay stub or other earnings information when you report your earnings to Social Security.

Examples of IRWEs include money you spend on:

• Personal Care Assistance (PCA) services that you use on the job
• Special equipment related to your disability that you purchase for your job
• Copayments for additional prescription drugs that you need because you are working

IRWEs are approved by the local Social Security office on a case-by-case basis. If you have any questions about IRWEs or about how to tell Social Security about them, talk with a Benefits Planner.

Estimate Your Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs):

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Subsidized Earnings

An employer may pay workers with serious medical conditions more in wages than their work is actually worth. When this occurs, the extra pay is counted as a subsidy rather than earnings.

Jamie's gross earnings for the month are $1,690. She spends $50 each month on Personal Care Assistance at her job, which counts as an IRWE. She also gets a $200 wage subsidy from her employer, who is paying her as much as he paid her before her disability started, even though she doesn’t get as much work done as she used to.

Social Security would calculate her monthly earnings like this:

SSDI Countable Earnings with IRWEs and Wage Subsidy:

Jamie's Gross Earnings	$1,690
Minus Jamie's Impairment Related Work Expenses	- $50
Minus Jamie's Wage Subsidy	- $200
Jamie's SSDI Countable Earnings
SGA (non-blind)	$1,550
(Over SGA)	0.00
(Under SGA)	0.00

Because her countable monthly earnings after the deductions are less than the SGA level ($1,550), Jamie would get SSDI benefits for the month.

If you think you may be getting a subsidy, talk to a Benefits Planner to learn how to report it to Social Security.

Your SSDI Countable Earnings:

Your Gross Earnings	$
Minus Your Impairment Related Work Expenses	- $
Minus Your Wage Subsidy	- $
Your SSDI Countable Earnings
SGA (non-blind)	$1,550
(Over SGA)	0.00
(Under SGA)	0.00

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Expedited Reinstatement (EXR)

If you have already completed your Trial Work Period and Extended Period of Eligibility, Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) means you may be able to get SSDI benefits if your earned income drops below the SGA level:

If you used to get SSDI benefits and your benefits ended within the last five years, EXR means you can get up to six months of temporary SSDI cash benefits if your countable earned income drops below the SGA level. During your period of Expedited Reinstatement, you can deduct Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWEs) and employer subsidies from your gross monthly earnings to help you qualify for SSDI benefits.

During the six months of temporary benefits, Social Security does a medical review to see if you still meet SSA disability requirements. If Social Security decides that you still have a disability, you keep getting benefits without having to reapply for SSDI. If they decide that you no longer have a disability, your SSDI benefits stop.

SSDI and Work Videos

Watch this video to see how planning helps you know what to expect with your SSDI when you go to work:

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Watch this video to understand how SSDI's rules can help you when you go back to work:

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Kevin’s Story

Kevin was 38 years old when a car accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. He had about $10,000 in the bank, but he knew that it wouldn’t last long. He also knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to his job as an auto mechanic, and he did not have any private disability insurance to help pay the bills.

Fortunately, a relative told Kevin about Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). SSDI is a public program that helps people who cannot work because of a disability.

Applying for SSDI would be a three-step process:

1. Kevin applies online and provides Social Security with all documentation about his earned income, work history, and disability.
2. Social Security checks Kevin’s work history to see if he’d worked long enough while paying Social Security taxes to qualify for SSDI benefits.
3. Social Security checks Kevin’s condition to see whether he had a disability.

SSDI Eligibility

Kevin was fairly sure he’d qualify for SSDI because:

• He wasn’t working, so he had no earnings and was below the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level.
• His disabling condition was severe and could be expected to last longer than 12 months.
• His disabling condition was listed on Social Security’s List of Impairments.
• He’d been working and paying Social Security taxes for more than 15 years.

Approval

Kevin applied for SSDI benefits and two months later, he got a letter in the mail. He’d been approved for $1,500 per month in SSDI benefits.

Because of SSDI’s five-month waiting period before benefits begin, Kevin had to wait another three months for his first SSDI benefits payment (he had already been waiting two months to be approved). When SSDI finally began, it was a great relief: The monthly cash benefit was a huge help with rent, groceries, and other expenses.

Two Years Later

Two years after SSDI began, he automatically started getting Medicare health coverage, which helped cut his medical expenses.

Around the same time, Kevin started thinking about going back to work. However, he had some concerns:

First, would he be able to work again? Being an auto mechanic was out. But maybe there was some other way he could earn a living.

Second, how would work and a higher income affect his SSDI benefits? If a new job worked out, that was great. But what if it didn’t? Would he have to reapply for Social Security benefits? Kevin talked to a Benefits Planner to get some answers.

SSDI Work Incentives

To Kevin’s relief, he learned that Social Security offers many incentives to help people return to work.

First, Social Security gives every SSDI beneficiary a nine-month Trial Work Period. This would let Kevin work and keep getting his full SSDI benefits, no matter how much he made. He could try out working with no risk to his benefits!

If he used up the Trial Work Period, Kevin would get a three-year Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE), during which he would still get SSDI benefits in any month where his monthly earnings were at the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level or less ($1,550 per month in 2024).

After the EPE ended, Kevin would have a five-year period of Expedited Reinstatement, during which he could apply for reinstatement of benefits if he needed it and get up to six months of temporary SSDI benefits. During the six months, Social Security would conduct a medical review and if Social Security decided that Kevin still met their disability requirements, he would continue getting SSDI benefits without having to reapply.

With all these safeguards, Kevin decided to give working a shot. He got a job as a sales representative for an auto parts manufacturer and it turned out to be a great fit. Ultimately, he became one of the top salesmen in Saginaw County. SSDI had served him well while he was unable to work, and the program’s work incentives had given him the confidence to try working again.

Ruth's Story

For three years, Ruth had been getting $1,100 per month in SSDI benefits. When she was offered a part-time job with a flexible schedule, Ruth spoke with a Benefits Planner so that she'd understand how the job would affect her benefits.

Ruth told the Benefits Planner that she'd be earning $1,300 in some months, less in others, depending on her schedule. The Benefits Planner explained that while $1,300 was higher than SSDI's Trial Work month level ($1,110 in 2024), that wasn't a problem: Ruth could earn more than the Trial Work Month level nine times in five years (sixty months) and keep getting SSDI benefits no matter how much she earned. During this five-year Trial Work Period (TWP), it didn't matter whether the nine Trial Work months were in a row or spread out.

Ruth decided to take the job, because the Trial Work Period meant she could try out working and still get her full SSDI benefit. After nine months earning more than the Trial Work level, Ruth's Trial Work Period ended. She called up her Benefits Planner, who told her that the next three years (36 months) were her Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE). For three years, she'd keep getting an SSDI benefit whenever her monthly earnings were less than $1,550 (the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level for people who aren't blind).

Ruth was happy in her job and started working more hours, so that she now made $2,300 per month, enough to live on even if she stopped getting SSDI. There was actually a three-month Grace Period when Ruth made more than the SGA level and kept getting SSDI, but after that her benefits stopped in any month she earned more than $1,550.

Work went well and Ruth stopped getting SSDI benefits for seven months, but then her health got worse and she had to cut back on her hours. For the next four months, she made $1,300 per month. She reported the change in income to her local Social Security office and her SSDI benefits started up again, because she was still in the Extended Period of Eligibility and was making less than the SGA level ($1,550).

After the four months, Ruth was feeling better and increased her hours so that she was earning $2,300 per month again. At that point, her SSDI benefits stopped, because Ruth was making more than the SGA level.