The Permanent Disability Retired List
Those who are determined to have a medical disability rated at 30% or greater or who have served more than 20 years are placed on the Permanent Disability Retired List. Like those on the Temporary list, these retirees are given the same retirement benefits their non-medically retired colleagues enjoy. For those on the Permanent list, retirement pay is calculated in one of two ways:
- The disability rating percentage, or Method A
- Your years of active service, or Method B
- Those who were transferred from the Temporary list to the Permanent list have their pay recalculated using the most current disability percentage rating
Understanding How The Ssas Complex Benefits Formula Works
Your Social Security disability payment is based on how much you earned during the last 10 years you worked. The SSA averages your highest monthly earnings in the last decade. Then, they adjust that amount to account for this years current inflation rate. This is called your average indexed monthly earnings, or AIME. Then, they apply a complex formula to your AIME to determine your primary insurance amount, or PIA. The SSA uses three fixed percentages called bend points to find your PIA. Whats more, the agency updates these three specific bend points each year.
Heres what that PIA formula looks like in 2021:
In plain English: Your Social Security disability benefit equals about 40% of your average monthly paychecks, adjusted for current inflation.
If that sounds unfair to you, its the same formula they use to calculate regular Social Security payments.
Determine Payments After Age 62
Figure out your disability payments starting at age 62. Increase your years of actual service by the time between your disability retirement and the age of 62. Add cost-of-living adjustments provided over that same time period to your high-three salary. The federal government provides this adjustment as the cost of living increases.
Multiply that high-three salary by 1 percent for each year of service if you have less than 20 years. Multiply by 1.1 percent if you have at least 20 years.
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Regular Or Own Occupation
The definition of regular or own occupation plan means youll receive benefits if youre unable to perform the main duties of the job you had at the time the disability started.
Youll still receive benefits even if you can work in a different job from the one you had before your disability, based on your training, experience and education. Some policies dont allow you to get benefits, or may reduce your benefits, if you begin working in a different job.
In group policies, its common that policies have regular or own occupation plans for a specified period of time. At the end of the specified period of time, usually after the first 2 or 5 years, the disability policy will often change to the any occupation definition.
Own occupation plans that never change in definition are often purchased individually and usually cost more than any occupation plans.
You may want to consider an own occupation plan if you have a specialized occupation that would require you to take a significant pay cut in order to work in another field.
Back Payments And Retroactive Payments Are Often Included Once You Are Approved
When you are approved for SSDI or SSI, you are often approved with back payments or retroactive payments included. Back payments are any disability benefits that are past due, or the benefits that you would have been paid if your initial application was approved right away.Retroactive payments are for the months that you were disabled and could not work. You are eligible for retroactive payments only with SSDI and not SSI.
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How To Calculate Social Security Credits Formerly Quarters Of Coverage
The Social Security Administration determines who is eligible to collect benefits using a credits system, determining whether you have met the minimum work requirements for eligibility. These credits, once called quarters of coverage, are based on the amount of time you have worked, and to some extent on the compensation you received for your work.
Many people are curious about how they can determine how many credits they have and whether they have enough to receive benefits. The credit system isnt always straightforward, and it may work differently for disability benefits, survivors benefits, and other types of Social Security benefits.
Learn all about Social Security credits, what they are, how they work, and how to determine whether you have enough to collect the benefits for which you want to apply.
Benefits For A Disabled Child
A child under age 18 may be disabled, but we don’t need to consider the child’s disability when deciding if he or she qualifies for benefits as a dependent. The child’s benefits normally stop at age 18 unless he or she is a full-time student in an elementary or high school or is disabled.
Children who were receiving benefits as a minor child on a parents Social Security record may be eligible to continue receiving benefits on that parents record upon reaching age 18 if they are disabled.
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Can You Receive Retroactive Payments
Once the SSA approves your SSDI application and calculates your monthly benefit, you may be entitled to a back pay award. How many months of payments you will receive will depend on the date you applied for benefits and your disability onset date.
If you are applying for SSDI benefits, you need the assistance of a skilled Social Security disability lawyer to get your application approved and receive the benefits you deserve. To schedule a free consultation with a member of our legal team, fill out the online form on this page or call our Roswell office today.
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Discuss Your Case With A Social Security Disability Attorney Today
Are you thinking about applying for Social Security disability benefits? If so, its in your best interest to seek legal representation from the skilled Social Security disability attorneys at Carlson Meissner Hart & Hayslett as soon as possible. Our attorneys have been representing the disabled in the greater Tampa Bay area since 1971. During this time, we have successfully won over $50 million in Social Security disability claims for our clients. Let us put our extensive resources and experience to work for you.
Contact our law firm now to schedule a free consultation regarding your disability case.
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Basic Pay And Retirement Pay
Calculating military retirement pay starts with your basic pay, which is the monthly salary on active duty. If you first entered military service on or before September 8, 1980, your final basic pay is multiplied by a percentage called a multiplier to determine retirement pay. If your entry date was later, the monthly average basic pay of your 36 months with the highest pay is used. Basic pay rates depend on rank and years of service. For example, a captain in the Navy or Coast Guard or a colonel in the other services is pay grade O-6. If she serves for 30 years, the basic active duty pay rate was $10,952.40 per month in 2015.
Disability Vs Unemployment Vs Workers Compensation
Disability insurance is not the same as unemployment insurance or workers compensation. Unemployment insurance provides temporary and short-term financial assistance while an individual is between jobs but is capable of working and is actively seeking a job. Workers compensation is paid by employers when an illness or injury occurs while an employee is on the clock and for which the employer may be held liable. Sometimes, benefits can be obtained from more than one program, such as from individual disability insurance and Social Security disability.
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Why Do You Need Short Term Disability Insurance
Medical expenses and job loss are two of the most common reasons individuals file for bankruptcy.2 If you lost your income because you were injured or became too sick to work, would you be able to cover your living expenses, plus additional medical bills? For most people, the answer is no. Short term disability helps cover the expenses that come with taking time off work to care for your health. Since short term disability is designed to replace a portion of your income for a short period of time, many people also choose a long term disability policy in case their illness or injury keeps them out of work for longer than their short term disability plan would cover them.
Social Securitys Complex Calculators
While our disability calculator provides an estimate, if you would like to dive deeper you can get a number directly from Social Security, if youre willing to create or if you already have a my Social Security account. my Social Security is an official portal to your personalized information with Social Security.
If you dont want to go through the hassle of creating a my Social Security account, Social Security has a number of calculators that provide estimates for retirement or disability benefits. However, these calculators come with more complexity than our disability calculator.
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How Are My Benefits Calculated
The SSA uses your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings and Primary Insurance Amount to calculate your benefits. The formula Social Security uses is quite complicated, and most people won’t be interested in trying to calculate their benefits on their own, especially because Social Security can give you an estimate.
To give you an idea of what you might receive, for 2021, the average SSDI benefit amount is $1,277 per month, but those whose income was fairly high in recent years can receive up to $3,148.
If you’re interested in how Social Security calculates your AIME and PIA, here’s how.
Average SSDI Benefit in 2021 Monthly Social Security disability benefits range from $100 to $3,148.
Reductions To Ssdi Benefits
Certain monetary benefits from other sources may affect your Social Security payments. SSI and VA benefits will not affect your SSDI benefits. If you are granted benefits from a private long-term disability insurance policy, your SSDI benefits will not be lowered .
On the other hand, payments from government-regulated disability benefits, such as workers compensation, or temporary state disability benefits, will affect how much you can earn monthly. Normally, the amount you receive in benefits cannot be more than 80% of the average amount you earned before you became disabled. In some states your SSDI award will be reduced if you do receive more than 80% of your past earnings, while in other states the other benefit, such as workers compensation, will be reduced instead.
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Social Security Credits Vs Quarters Of Coverage
A quarter of coverage, or QC, is a legal term formerly used to refer to Social Security credits. Quarters of coverage were considered the basic unit to determine whether someone had enough work under their belt to qualify for Social Security benefits. The reason quarters of coverage were used is because employers used to report earnings for employees on a quarterly basis.
Starting in 1978, the federal government shifted the way employers reported wages to annually instead of quarterly. Because of this, the SSA was only getting information once per year. It became necessary to change the way benefits eligibility are determined. Inflation also played a role, resulting in rising wages and making the prior numbers outdated. As such, the government changed the laws to issue credits based on annual income. The idea that one earned a maximum of four credits per year, however, was retained.
Because of this, the term quarters of coverage is still used by some, though Social Security credits is the preferred term now. Still, we can see the two terms as somewhat interchangeable, and where you see one, the other also applies.
As such, like credits, quarters of coverage are determined by income, with the earnings requirement for one quarter changing from year to year. The SSA offers a table that lets you check the earnings required to earn a single quarter of coverage.
How Can The Social Security Disability Programs Be Improved To Increase Economic Security And Work Opportunities For Beneficiaries
Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security increase economic security for millions of disabled workers. For beneficiaries whose conditions improve, the programs also provide important incentives and supports for returning to work. Still, the programs could be further strengthened to increase disabled workers economic security and provide a more seamless transition for those who are able to return to work.
Modernize Supplemental Security
The value of Supplemental Security benefits has eroded considerably since the programs inception in 1972, as the programs income exclusions and asset limits have not kept pace with inflation and living standards. The current maximum benefit is equivalent to just three-quarters of the also-outdated federal poverty line for a single person. The general income exclusion and earned income exclusion have never been increased. To address this erosion, H.R. 1601, the Supplemental Security Restoration Act, sponsored by Rep. Raul Grijalva and introduced in Congress in April 2013, would increase the monthly maximum benefit to $937, which is 100 percent of the current federal poverty line, and would increase the general income disregard to $110 per month and the earned income disregard to $357 a month. Increasing the income exclusions and indexing them to inflation going forward would restore the monthly benefit amount to its intended value and significantly increase beneficiaries economic security.
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Cost Of Living Adjustment
Every year everyone’s Social Security benefits are recalculated to adjust to the increasing cost of living. COLA amounts are determined by increases in the Consumer Price Index .
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Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits
SSDI is calculated on the amount of money that you earned and the amount of taxes you paid into the system while you were working. The more you paid into the system, the more you will receive if the Social Security Administration finds you to be disabled. That means someone who has made $80,000 a year will very likely receive more in SSDI payments than someone who has made $35,000 a year.
If you think your SSDI payments are low, we recommend you talk to a Social Security Disability lawyer. Calculating your SSDI payments is complex, and it can be confusing. An attorney can help determine what your correct monthly payment should be.
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Your Monthly Benefits For Ssdi Is Not Based On Your Disability
The amount that you receive for Social Security disability is based on your earnings before you became disabled. Your payment is not based the severity of your disability, however your current income must be below a certain threshold to be eligible for SSDI. If you receive payments for your disability from other government sources, your monthly payment for SSD may be lowered.
Your Primary Insurance Amount
PIAs are complex to calculate and even harder to explain. The PIA is the sum of three separate percentages of portions of average indexed monthly earnings, states the SSA. Essentially, the SSA separates your AIME into three portions that it calls bend points:
- Bend Point #1: Your first $885. They SSA will take 90 percent of this figure.
- Bend Point #2: Your earnings between $885 and $5,336. The SSA takes 32 percent of these earnings.
- Bend Point #3: Your earnings above $5,336. The SSA takes 15 percent of these earnings.
The sum of the three bend points will be your monthly disability benefit amount.
Example of Calculating Your PIA and Monthly SSDI Benefit
- Lets say your AIME was $3,800/month.
- Your PIA would be the sum of $796.5 for Bend Point #1 + $932.80 for Bend Point #2 .
- You receive a grand total of $1,729/month for SSDI.
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How Are Social Security Disability Benefits Calculated
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Mathematically speaking, Social Security Disability Insurance is calculated in the same way as Social Security retirement benefits. Both are based on your record of covered earnings work income on which you paid Social Security taxes.
The Social Security Administration starts by figuring your average monthly income across your working life, adjusted for historical wage growth. It then plugs that figure into a formula to determine your primary insurance amount , also known as your full retirement benefit.
The PIA formula is progressive weighted to provide proportionally higher benefits to lower earners and its the same whether youre claiming retirement or disability benefits. What differs is how much income data goes into determining your full benefit and when you can collect it.
For retirees, the SSA uses the 35 highest-earning years to calculate the monthly average income and PIA. You become eligible to claim that full amount at full retirement age, which is 66 and 2 months for people born in 1955 and is gradually rising to 67. Benefits are reduced if you claim earlier by as much as 30 percent if you start taking them at the minimum age of 62.
Exactly how much of your earnings history is included depends on arcane Social Security terms like elapsed years and computation years, but basically, heres how it works.
Regardless of your age, if your SSDI claim is approved, youll be awarded your full benefit 100 percent of your PIA.
Keep in mind