CAN YOU WORK WHILE GETTING SSDI BENEFITS?

If you are receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits (SSDI), you are not permitted to work full-time or at "substantial gainful activity" (SGA).  Simply put, in 2019, you cannot earn at least $1,220 per month in wages, salary, tips, or self-employment income.  If you do earn at least $1,220 per month, you become ineligible for SSDI benefits and your check will be terminated.

I might point out, also, that all your wages get reported directly to Social Security by your employer.  Employers are required to deduct FICA taxes, which is a Social Security tax.  These wages are reported quarterly to Social Security and there is a computer in Baltimore that matches these wages to your Social Security number.

If you reach the maximum threshold of $1,220 per month in wages, the computer will generate a "take action" notice and you will be contacted about the termination of SSDI benefits.

This process can be slow.  You may not be contacted right away about working and receiving excessive earnings.  Sometimes, it may take a year or two before the Social Security Administration notifies you that you benfits are being terminated.  In that case, they will determine the date on which you began engaging in "substantial gainful activity" (earning at least $1,220 per month).  Social Security will demand that you repay any benefits you received after that date.

Sometimes, they will demand that you repay thousands of dollars in benefits.  And, no, there is no way to get out of paying the money back.  If you work and also take a Social Security benefit that you are not legally entitled to, that money has to be repaid, no matter how long it takes Social Security to notify you of the problem.

Here is the safest, and legal way, to handle work related income.  Whenever you begin to earn at least $1,220 per month in gross wages or self-employment income, contact Social Security and tell them about your earnings.  Ask them to stop your benefit check.  Or, simply avoid working at "substantial gainful activity."

Social Security is slow at everything they do.  If you work and don't report it, it may take them a long time to catch you--but catch you they will--and the consequences can be very unpleasant.

Finally, the dollar amount for what is considered "substantial gainful activity (SGA) changes each year due to inflation.  In 2019 it is $1,220.  In 2018, it was $1,180.  The number will probably change slightly for 2020; however the 2020 number hasn't been released yet. 

If you get SSI (Supplemental Security Income), the above rules are not the only rules you need to worry about.  Any income, from almost any source, can affect your ability to continue to get SSI benefits.  The above information refers only to SSDI claims, also called Title 2 claims, not SSI.