How did you know you were ready to apply for Disibility?
I hear that the process is long and you often get rejected your first time or so.
I am having trouble keeping up at work now. My hands are really having trouble and keying invoices all day hurts. I am looking for a job within another dept. Also, maybe working from home with the same company, doing AP but on the days I feel bad, I can rest, then work, then rest some more.
Roblyn
Sorry to hear of your troubles will2win.
I would say when your momma makes you or pushes you to apply for it
I hope everything works out. I am sorry to hear of your struggles Roblyn. I am at the ALJ (Administrative law judge) point in my appeals and the firm that I hired says that my percentage is now 90% for an award. I filed 15 months ago and have been denied twice. 95% of all claimants receive a denial on their first try.
One thing that you must have is a Dr behind you willing to state that you cannot work. You also must have enough credits at SS to qualify for SSDI.
SS allows a claimant to earn I think up to 0 per month and continue to file. I definately recommend hiring an attorney or a firm that specializes in disability claims.
Good luck to you.
It's a really, really hard decision. Social Security expects you not to be able to do any kind of work whatsoever. For instance, if you can sit and be a security guard, then they are going to deny your claim. Also, they expect you to pretty much be off work for a year before they take you seriously. This is not true for everyone. But for the majority, it seems to be. It is something you need to keep in consideration in your decision making process.
You cannot really make any income during that time although their web site says you can make around 0 a month gross, before any taxes. If you make over that amount you will get a technical denial.
If you are under the age of 50, they consider you retrainable. That makes it harder and if you are a woman with small children at home, they consider you employable because you can take care of your children. The higher your level of education works against you. If you have an hard labor job rather than a desk job it can be easier to get disability.
All of this makes the decision harder because it seems the cards are stacked against you. I'm going through the process now and feel really down about it. Living on nothing is really hard to do especially when it can stretch for years. You have to have endurance for this and the more you can plan ahead financially for it, the better.
But there does come a point when you are damaging your body more long term working than finally quitting. For me, I was in such pain every day and losing more capabilities. I had multiple areas and I just couldn't face it any more. It was too much pain and I was destroying parts of my body.
Still, every day, I get the message from the unknowing, those who can't possibly understand, that I should go back to work. And, the mind game of it all wears at me. Of course, I want to go make to work. Who would want to go from making a good living to absolute, unrelenting poverty?
But sometimes, you don't have a choice and I finally decided to put all that energy that I was putting into working and hurting myself into fighting the system and try to get some help.
There is no easy way to decide. It is such an incredibly personal decision and depends on whether you have family and friends that will help you out or you live in a community that has helps in place. But sometimes, no matter what your circumstance, you have to quit working.
It's ironic you bring this up today. My old boss sent me an email saying that after 5 months, I am still irreplaceable. That's quite a complement. I can have my old job back and it is tempting. But I still know I can't do it no matter how I long for it. But it was nice to hear. And, maybe, when I get better I can rejoin the working.
If you have to take this step, don't consider it a permanent condition. You will need the full support of your doctor.
What might save you from quitting working is job accomodation or Vocational Rehab. Or, if you can find something you can do from home. I found the drive to work was overwhelming. And sitting, typing, walking, standing.
Working fewer hours might help but keep in mind that if you income goes down, so do your benefits. This is a real travesty because many of us keep trying everything to work. My hours got reduced and reduced and then I lost my LTD benefits. So, you want to be at the highest income level you can manage when you file.
It all gets very complicated and people seems to have a lot of variance in their experience.
In summary, you must do what you feel you must do whether anyone else in the world thinks it is the right thing or not. Good luck with the decision.