SELF EVALUATE YOUR OWN DISABILITY CLAIM

Here are 5 questions you can ask yourself to do a preliminary self check on your eligibility for Social Security disability:

1. Are you now working a job which pays at least $1,310 per month before tax? (If yes, you will not be eligible for disability benefits because you are working).

2. Have you worked at least 5 years out of the past 10 years at a job that withheld Social Security taxes (called FICA)?

3. Do you have a severe and medically determinable impairment that's on Social Security's list of disabling conditions? This impairment must have lasted for 12 straight months, be expected to last for 12 straight months, or to eventually end in your death.

4. Are you unable to perform any of the full-time jobs you've had in the past 15 years?

5. Are you disabled to a point that you could not perform any other type of work which exists in the US economy (including unskilled, sedentary work? This would include minimum wage or low paying jobs.

If you pass each one of these standards, you may be eligible to apply for Social Security disability. It is a complicated process and just because you meet all the rules doesn't mean Social Security will pay you right away. It often takes a legal fight to convince them to do the right thing.