Social Security taxes are deducted from your paychecks.  A portion of the deduction is applied to your retirement account, and a portion is applied as a premium for Social Security Disability Benefits.  To be eligible, you must have worked and paid into the system 20 of the previous 40 quarters, or 5 of the past 10 years.  If so, your SSD disability insurance coverage will continue for up to 5 years after you have ceased working.  You must prove that you meet their definition of disability at any time within that 5 year period after you have stopped working, inclusive of the date you stopped working.  Following that, your disability benefits will continue until you are deemed no longer "disabled" by the Social Security Administration.

SSD benefits are paid out of your own account with the Social Security Administration.  The monthly amount of benefits you receive is determined by how much you have paid into the account.  SSD benefits are not income dependent.  Therefore, you would still receive your monthly benefit regardless of other income, say, for example, from stocks, 401K plans or assets that you may have.  Even Bill Gates would get his check if he met the definition of "disability"!

Supplement Security Income Benefits is a program for individuals who have not paid enough into the system during the past ten years.  This includes, for example, a worker who has been on worker's compensation for 10 years prior to the time of application, or a divorced spouse who never has worked outside of the home and now lives alone.  It also includes disabled children of low income households.

SSI benefits are paid out of the General Treasury to a current maximum of about $580.00 per month.  SSI benefits, unlike SSD benefits, are income and resource sensitive.  Therefore, if your assets and resources exceed $2,000.00, depending upon the number of people in your household, you cannot draw SSI benefits, regardless of how disabled you may be.

You cannot draw both SSI and SSD benefits if the amount of your expected monthly SSD benefit exceeds about $580.00, the current monthly SSI benefit.  The green statement we receive every year from the Social Security Administration will tell you if you have enough quarters of coverage.  You can also call the SSA at 1-800-772-1213 to find out whether you qualify for either program.