How Does Early Retirement Affect Your Social Security Benefits

You are allowed to receive your Social Security retirement benefits as early as 62, but you should know that your monthly payment will be significantly lower than if you retired at 70. You will not be able to get your full retirement amount. Your Social Security benefits will be reduced by the amount of months you have left until you reach full retirement age.

Eligibility: In order to receive SS benefits, you will need 40 credits of work in your file. Generally, if you worked for at least 10 years and have been paying taxes to Social Security, then you are likely to be eligible for Social Security benefits.

Average earnings: The average amount you can receive a month is figured out by using the average index monthly earning — AIME. This will also be adjusted with changes in wages as well as the standard of living during your working career. The 35 highest years that you worked, will then be added up and averaged to a monthly earning that you will receive.

Payouts: The AIME that was just used above is now used for monthly payments toward finding out your primary insurance amount — PIA. This is the amount you will receive if you claim SS benefits at your full retirement age. The formula for PIA is:

• 90 percent of the first $767 of your AIME, plus
• 32 percent of your AIME over $767 and through $4,624, plus
• 15 percent of your AIME over $4,624

The benefit payouts are decreased if you want to claim benefits before you are full retirement age, but may increase if you wait until the age of 70 to claim. It is important to remember that early retirement can affect these numbers. If you retire and don’t have 35 working years, Social Security will place zeros in, which can significantly decrease your monthly payment.

If you plan on depending on Social Security benefits, it is best to wait as long as possible to retire so you are getting the highest amount. If you do have health problems, there are exceptions to early retirement. Ask a Social Security disability lawyer for help during this time.

Should I Apply SSD Benefits for Bad Knees & Joint Pain?

If you suffer from knee pain and are interested in applying for Social Security benefits, you know that living with your knee pain makes life more difficult. The Social Security Administration does not approve all knee-pain applications, but these tips may help you win your case.

The root of most cases of knee pain is the joints. Injured joints can cause severe, debilitating pain whenever the knee is moved. Though it is possible to qualify for SSD benefits if you suffer from severe joint pain, it is not an easy task. This is where a Social Security disability lawyer can help you through the application process.

In regards to severe joint pain, the SSA requires that the applicant provide evidence that his ailment is “medically determinable.” This means that you, the applicant, must have specific medical tests done that can physically show the SSA your injury. These results can provide you with an arsenal of evidence to use when applying for Social Security benefits in Washington DC. This evidence has to prove that your joint pain will last longer than a year and that it is so severe that it is altering your lifestyle and work performance.

An SSD attorney can take you through the specific tests and medical procedures that will help support your case. However, a rough list includes your official diagnosis, MRIs, x-rays and labs, in addition to proof that you have tried different treatment options and how your body responded (or didn’t respond) to that treatment.

According to the SSA, you can qualify for benefits in one of two ways:

1. Proving that your disability meets the requirements outlined in the SSA’s book of disability listings.
2. Showing that your disability limits you physically or mentally, preventing you from working full-time.

To qualify under the SSA’s disability listings, your joint pain must be caused by a deformity. This can be proven with an MRI. Since the joint pain is pinpointed to your knee, this deformity must be so severe that it alters your ability to walk normally – thus altering your day-to-day lifestyle. Do you need help running errands? Can you walk up stairs by yourself?

Qualifying for Social Security benefits in Washington DC under the second set of qualifications can be even more difficult. If you do not know what your best bet is, or even where to begin, an SSD lawyer can help you get your application started.

Disability Benefits for Diabetes Patients

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder involving the body’s inability to make insulin because the body’s own immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Type 2 diabetes is fast becoming a worldwide epidemic. It is much more prevalent these days in people of all ages—and much more debilitating. The overarching reason for developing type 2 diabetes is lack of exercise and obesity, characterized by a body mass index (BMI) over 30. As your body produces less and less insulin to process the glucose, your diabetes does damage.

You can qualify for disability for either type 1 or 2 diabetes. If you are experiencing extreme fatigue, frequent urination, and are unusually hungry or thirsty, you could have type 2 diabetes, which over time, can create kidney damage, vision problems high blood pressure and nerve damage.

If your uncontrolled diabetes condition is severe enough that it has prevented you from working, you may qualify for Social Security disability income (SSDI). Just remember that your diabetes and any damage it has caused must be severely limiting. Another important consideration is that you must follow your doctor’s treatment. Many people are denied benefits for this reason, which is one reason to think about hiring social security disability attorneys.

By itself, diabetes no longer qualifies as impairment in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Listing of Impairments ("Blue Book"), but complications from diabetes do qualify, such as diabetic retinopathy (eye), nephropathy (kidney) or neuropathy (nerve).

If your diabetes is serious enough that you’ve had an amputation, you can also qualify for SSDI benefits. The SSA will consider the combined effects of all your impairments. Even if you don’t meet the requirements of a particular listing you can request the SSA to assess your ability to do work. This is called a residual functional capacity (RFC) and is a measure of your ability to do sedentary to heavy work. Hiring social security disability attorneys is particularly useful if you’re going the RFC route.

Unfortunately, most people who apply for diabetes disability are denied benefits on the first application. Consider hiring social security disability attorneys to file your appeal or better yet, to file for you the first time. Disability attorneys understand the SSA process and use strategies like showing the effects of multiple impairments, and tying those impairments to your inability to work. So what are you waiting for? Contact one of our social security disability attorneys today. We’re ready to help you get the benefits you deserve.

Getting the Most out of a SSDI Law Firm

When it comes to applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, many people struggle with the complex, ambiguous and extensive process that requires you to not only fill out paperwork, but also find evidence, communicate with the SSA and potentially even argue your case in court. That’s why most people choose to enlist the services of a qualified disability attorney who will help you have the highest chance possible of winning your case.

However, if you’re unsure what a disability lawyer can do for you, there are some steps you can take to better understand how to utilize a disability law firm when it comes to getting through the application process, appeals, and beyond.

Start with the application process, which can get complicated if you’re not sure what form to fill out or how to submit it. Take advantage of your attorney’s expertise by asking them to fill out and submit the paperwork on your behalf, which cuts down on the time that you spend working on complicated documents and increases the chance you have to focus on your own recovery. Plus, attorneys have years and sometimes decades of experience in SSDI applications, so they are able to fill it out in a way that maximizes your chances of winning.

Then, throughout the process, you can and should ask your law firm to answer any questions that you may have. If you’re unclear about the SSDI application process, ask your attorney to clarify it for you. If you’re not sure about your own qualifications, your attorney will go through it step by step. Ultimately, you can and should look to your disability attorney and the law firm you have hired as your support system.

Then, if you have to go through the appeals process, your attorney will file your appeals for you and increase your chances of getting your claim approved whether it is a Request for Reconsideration or a hearing that takes place in front of a judge. And if you end up doing the latter, then your attorney will support you all the way and will represent you in court in order to help you get approved for benefits.

Qualifying for Disability Benefits With a Speech Disorder

Since speech disorders are usually diagnosed in children, they can qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program by meeting both the medical and financial requirements. These rules would also apply to undiagnosed adults with speech disorders.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) maintains a guide to disabilities called the Blue Book. It lists all qualifying conditions for each disorder that the SSA considers benefits for.

A person can qualify for benefits for speech disorders in several ways. The first is by having a hearing loss, since it is the cause of the majority of speech disorders. Here are the specifics:

•  A 50-decibel or less air conduction hearing threshold (children age 5 and younger)

•  A 70-decibel air conduction hearing threshold. (This can also be a 40 decibel threshold in a bone conduction hearing test.). Both apply to children aged 5-18.

Word recognition scores can also qualify a child; if a child has a score below 40 and also has significant speech and language limitations, that child will also qualify.

Children up to age 5 with cochlear implants also qualify. If the child is older when they have this surgery, they can obtain disability one year after surgery.

There are also cases in which a child can qualify without having hearing loss. Children with autism or Down syndrome fit this category, and most automatically qualify. The Blue Book lists disability ratings for Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down Syndrome separately; both require that the child must exhibit severe deficits in verbal/nonverbal communication as well as social interaction. SSA will consider all the evidence when making a determination for a child without hearing loss but with other disorders.

Finally, your child may qualify if they have another speech disorder not mentioned above that causes an inability to:

•  Communicate with others
•  Follow directions
•  Attend school

The SSA will require extensive medical evidence to determine qualifying for disability benefits with a speech disorder: an official diagnosis, doctor’s notes, surgical notes, hearing or other tests performed and similar information. If your child sees an audiologist, have that person provide as much detail as possible about your child’s case.

To meet SSI, the child must qualify both medically and financially, meaning the family must demonstrate financial need and have a very low income. The child can apply and qualify individually after their 18th birthday.