The Social Safety incapacity five-year rule permits folks to skip a required ready interval for receiving incapacity advantages if that they had beforehand obtained incapacity advantages, stopped amassing these advantages after which turned unable to work once more inside 5 years.
The Social Safety incapacity five-year rule makes the reapplication course of simpler for individuals who have labored intermittently however have a incapacity that, greater than as soon as inside 5 years, prevents them from working.
Right here’s what to find out about the way to qualify — and requalify — for Social Safety incapacity insurance coverage, or SSDI, advantages.
How do Social Safety incapacity advantages work?
SSDI advantages have strict guidelines round who qualifies. These embrace guidelines concerning how lengthy you’ve got been disabled, if you apply and the way lengthy you labored earlier than you turned unable to work attributable to a qualifying incapacity.
Usually, you’re entitled to incapacity advantages in the event you meet all the following necessities:
You may have a qualifying incapacity. The Social Safety Administration, or SSA, defines incapacity as a “medically determinable bodily or psychological impairment” that has lasted or is anticipated to final a minimum of 12 months. This situation should make you unable to do the work you probably did earlier than or every other “substantial gainful work that exists within the nationwide financial system.”[0] Totally different guidelines apply if you’re blind or making use of for survivors advantages.
You apply for SSDI advantages earlier than your full retirement age. Full retirement age for Social Safety is the age at which an individual is entitled to 100% of their month-to-month Social Safety retirement profit. It ranges from 66 to 67. The SSA determines an individual’s full retirement age primarily based on their delivery 12 months[0].
You labored for a minimum of 5 of the ten years earlier than your incapacity. Social Safety awards folks “credit” after they work and pay Social Safety taxes. You possibly can earn as much as 4 credit per 12 months of labor. SSDI advantages require 40 work credit to qualify, 20 of which you earned throughout the 10 years earlier than your incapacity. In 2023, you’ll obtain one credit score for every $1,640 of earnings, so that you’ll must earn a minimum of $6,560 in 5 of 10 years to qualify. The SSA refers to qualifying with credit as being “insured” to your incapacity[0].
You may have been disabled for 5 consecutive months. As a result of this rule, you’ll obtain your first profit cost beginning within the sixth month after you you apply. Nevertheless, in the event you’re discovered to have been eligible for SSDI advantages earlier attributable to incapacity onset, you possibly can obtain retroactive funds for as much as the earlier 12 months. And in the event you beforehand obtained SSDI advantages throughout the previous 5 years, the SSDI five-year rule waives the five-month ready interval so you possibly can resume advantages instantly.[0]
How a lot will I get from SSDI advantages?
Your incapacity profit cost from Social Safety is dependent upon your lifetime earnings. The SSA web site has a calculator to estimate your month-to-month profit cost.
How do I apply for incapacity advantages?
The SSA recommends making use of for incapacity advantages as quickly as you turn out to be disabled. Nevertheless, you might be able to obtain back-paid advantages for as much as the earlier 12 months[0].
You possibly can assist another person apply for incapacity advantages with out being a certified consultant. Chances are you’ll must reply extra questions on your relationship to the profit recipient, and the recipient might want to electronically or bodily signal the applying[0].
