3 WORDS DESCRIBE A WINNING SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY CLAIM

Severity

Frequency

Duration

SEVERITY: Your medical impairment is severe enough to prevent you from working at any full-time job.

FREQUENCY: Your pain, fatigue, weakness or other symptoms occur often enough to make you unable to work on a frequent basis.

DURATION: Your impairment has lasted for at least 12 months, is medically expected to last for at least 12 straight months, OR is expected to end in death. Either of these 3 factors meets the duration requirement.

Words of Caution:

• Social Security denies a lot of claims that meet the eligibility requirements. So, if denied, appeal and keep appealing until you appear before a judge.

• Your odds with an initial application are no more than about 25 percent.

• Your odds before an administrative law judge (ALJ) are close to 50 percent.

• You have to be persistent and go through the entire process to win.And never, ever expect to win without a lawyer or advocate. It's not a do-it-yourelf kind of thing.