Music playing in the background throughout video.
  
Working While Receiving Disability Benefits

Narrator:

Have you heard this myth? "If my benefit payments  stop because I started working and making 
money, and then I stop working because of my disability, I will have to apply for benefits all over 
again."

That's not necessarily true. Social Security has special rules called Work Incentives that bust 
this myth for people who receive Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI.

If you receive SSDI, the Trial Work Period is a Work Incentive that allows you to test your ability 
to work for at least 9 months. The months  don't have to be in a row. During the Trial Work 
Period, you'll receive full SSDI benefit payments no matter how much you earn as long as you 
report your work activity, and you continue to meet Social Security's rules for disability.

Once you complete 9 Trial Work Period months, Social Security has another Work Incentive 
called the Extended Period of Eligibility. This means that after the Trial Work Period, you'll enter 
a 36-month period during which Social Security will look at what you earned in a month to 
decide if the work is Substantial Gainful Activity or SGA. Social Security may deduct the value 
of other Work Incentives, like subsidies or impairment-related work expenses, to decide if your 
work is at SGA level.

Once Social Security subtracts the value of these Work Incentives, they compare the result to 
the SGA level that applies to the year that you did the work.

You will receive a 3-month grace period the first time that Social Security decides your work is at 
SGA level after you have completed your Trial Work Period. That means that if Social Security 
decides your work and earnings are at the SGA level, you are still due payments during that 3-
month grace period. After the grace  period, Social Security will suspend your payments for 
those months in which you perform at the SGA level. If your earnings fall below SGA during the 
36-month Extended Period of Eligibility, Social Security will start your SSDI benefits again once 
you report the change, and Social Security updates your work record.

Once your Extended Period of Eligibility ends, you will continue to be due your benefit 
payments if you are not working or your work is not at the SGA level.

Talking with a Benefits Counselor can help you better understand the Work Incentives available 
to you and how they may affect your earnings and benefits. For more information about Work 
Incentives, see social security's red book at www.ssa.gov/redbook.

If you have questions about the Trial Work Period, Extended Period of Eligibility, or how working 
will affect your disability benefits, please contact us today. We would love to answer your 
questions.

For more information, call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842. For TTY, it's 1-866-833-2967. 
Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.

Or visit us online at choosework.ssa.gov.

For information on Work Incentives, visit Social Security's Red Book at ssa.gov/redbook. 

Produced at U.S. Taxpayer Expense.