>> Ray Cebula: Good afternoon, everybody. This is Ray Cebula from Cornell University's Yang-Tan Institute and I want to welcome you to today's webinar. Today, we are having part two of a webinar dealing with financial stability. For those of you who are not on part one that was about two weeks ago, don't worry, we have an archived systems so that you will be able to access part one of the session, same speakers, continuation of the topic and you'll be right on top of things. And if you weren't around for part one, I would encourage you to do that because there was some great information shared by a couple of great ladies that I get lucky enough to work with every once in a while. So today, you've been hooked up to your -- to our webinar through your computer speaker and your computer monitor. Now, you should be able to hear me. I can't hear you because you've all been muted. But you do have a webinar console in the right-hand corner of your screen, or the right-hand side of your screen, it's as big as mine. And you can see up there, there is a Q and A box. If you click on that little Q and A box right there, it's going to open up a box. You're going to be able to type in your questions, type in any comments you have, and they will appear on my desktop and Jamie's desktop, and there are hundreds of you out there. So I want to let you know that we're not going to get to all of your questions but we want to get to those that are going to be the most important for the most number of people. So we'll be screening those questions and we'll ask our panelists those questions at appropriate times. If something's right on point at the moment, I'll interrupt, otherwise, when we start switching topics, we will ask those questions. We will, however, also give you information to get those questions answered because we don't want you to go without answers. Now, you are listening to us again through your computers. If you have any issues, there is also an option for you to call in. And up at the top of your screen you should see the word "Audio"; if you click on that word "Audio," it's going to open this box. You can click "I will call in on the phone" and today's number will come up for you and I'm about to give you that number. Let's give you that number now. Here's the toll-free number; today's number is 855-749-4750. If you've got a piece of paper and a pencil handy, write this down -- 855-749-4750. They will ask you for an access code and that code is 648-663-873. Now, we do want to talk a bit about accessibility and how our webinars are functioning. We strive to make sure that as many people as possible can participate in our session to the greatest extent as possible. Every once in a while someone tells us they weren't able to log on, or someone tells us they couldn't hear, or closed captioning wasn't working for them. Please, if you do have an issue, let us know, and more than letting us know if you have an issue. If you have a solution for us, if you know some program or some system we can use to fix it in the future, please let us know that, too. We do want to hear from you if you do have any of those issues. Now, the webinar PowerPoint and accessible PDF were sent to you with your confirmation link that you received to get into today's session. The PowerPoint and the -- oh God -- and the audio will be able in about two weeks -- in about two weeks. Yeah, I've only done this a thousand times [laughter] -- in about two weeks and that will be posted; and this is the website you're going to want to use to see part one, if you haven't seen part one. www.ilr.cornell.edu backslash edi backslash m-wise-webinars.cfm, you know, and I'm sure Jamie is typing that now into your chat box. During today's webinar, we also have the option for you to type questions into the chat box although, we do prefer that you use the question and answer box. If you want to send us questions, send them to webinars@choosework.net. That's webinars@choosework.net. And if you think of a question after we're finished today or after the Facebook session -- that's going to follow today's session, you can always find an answer at support@chooseworkttdw.net. That is support@chooseworkttdw.net. So for today's agenda, you know who I am, you've been welcomed, and you've been introduced. We're going to talk about tools for financial independence and this is an incredibly important topic because we have been, you know, talking to people about returning to work and working their way off of benefits to gain independence and financial independence is a big part of that -- big, big part of that; and there are many tools out there that Djuna Mitchell and Terri Uttermohlen from the Social Security Office of Employment Support programs is going to tell you about today. We're going to talk about the Ticket to Work then I'll talk about earned income tax credits, all kinds of wonderful things. At the end, I'll come back and share some other resource with you, and, again, we'll take questions and answers throughout today's session, and as well, I may interrupt people just a warning, you guys. Now before we get started, I've got to ask you some questions and if you would be so kind as to participate and click and answer real quick, we can get through these answers easy enough and these are helping us to further outreach to other people. So our first question is, how did you learn about today's webinar? Was it via email, Facebook or Twitter? A website, a family or friend, or some other manner? [ Pause ] [Inaudible] really -- really well, really fast. [ Pause ] All right, we're slowing down. All right. So I'm going to close that out. I have to wait my 20 seconds and we'll get to our next one. All of the answers are just that easy, folks [laughter], but it is very helpful information. All right, polling question two. What is it that you hope to learn about today? Are you hoping to learn about the Ticket to Work, some of the work incentives for SSI, work incentives for SSDI, employment networks and vocational rehabilitation services or something else? [ Pause ] People are thinking a little bit more about this one. [ Pause ] All righty. There we go. I got to my good quantity of responses and I'll move on to the next one. We have an hour for today's session and then I'm -- we're going to be moving to a Facebook Q and A session. This is an easy one. What is your gender? Male or female? [ Pause ] All right. We're going to shut that one down. That was quick and easy. [ Pause ] Okay. And number four. What is your age? 18 or younger? 19 to 25? 26 to 40? 41 to 55? 56 to 65? Or 66 and older? Wow. [Inaudible] get a chance to read that one and everybody answered. Okay. [ Pause ] Five. Four. Three. Two. One. And the last question. We know that some of you are not alone at your terminal, and so that we can get a good count as to how many people are there, not including yourself, how many other people are watching this webinar with you? [ Pause ] All right. Thank you very much. We're just going to wait those 20 seconds again, and then we can move on. [ Pause ] Okay. Now, we are always grateful to have the support of Bob Williams, who is the Associate Commissioner of Social Security and he is also with the Office of Employment Support Programs and he has a message for all of us today. So, Michael, if you could queue up that video, that would be great. [ Pause ] [ Music ] >> Bob Williams: Hello, and welcome to today's webinar. My name is Bob Williams and I am the Associate Commissioner for Employment Support at the Social Security Administration. We run the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency program which assists persons ages 18 through 64 on SSDI or SSI who want to improve their life and future by becoming employed. By viewing this webinar, you will learn how you can receive training, become employed, increase your earnings, reduce your reliance on disability benefits and eventually earn a better living by becoming fully self-supporting whenever possible. The Ticket program is not for everyone. This is why the choice of whether to take advantage of it is yours and yours alone. I know firsthand and people with significant disabilities face many barriers to becoming and staying employed. This is especially true in today's economy. A major reason you receive disability benefits is that Social Security determined that you were not unable to work enough to support yourself. Plus, I also want you to know that having a significant disability no longer has to be a lifetime bar to employment and greater financial security. The Ticket can offer you the choices, training, opportunities, and support you need to go to work and gain financial independence. I hope today's webinar beings your journey towards greater self-sufficiency, your life and future can be better. Thank you for joining us. [ Music ] [ Pause ] >> Ray Cebula: All right. Thank you very much. Okay. There is a little bit of static in the background, so for those of you who are not presenting, if you could mute your phone lines, that would be great. And I am about to turn this over to Djuna Mitchell who's going to be in our discussion about what is financial independence. So Djuna, take it away. >> Djuna Mitchell: Thank you very much, Ray, and thank -- the entire audience for joining us today. I've been -- next slide, please -- I've been thinking a lot about what financial independence means to me and according to this slide it means being able to support yourself, meet your wants and needs, have more choices and options and not be limited by Social Security. But here's what it means for me, personally; I actually gave this some thought today. It means having a lot more "And" in your life like being able to have, for me, food and wheelchair repair versus food or wheelchair repair. Before I started working, I had a lot more "Or" in my life and I enjoyed having more "And." So that is what financial independence means to me. It means being able to pay the mortgage and have tickets to the McCartney concert -- I'm very excited. So that's my definition of financial independence. Next slide, please. Okay. So today you'll get an overview of some difference -- some different programs, some different incentives that you can use to get on the road to financial independence and if that is the right journey for you. And I emphasized that you'd need to look at your situation. It is my sincerest hope that it is the right journey for you, but if it's not at this point, agree to evaluate it later. Next slide, please. Okay. In the previous webinar, we covered a variety of topics, work, work incentives, S.M.A.R.T. goals, budgeting, banking, credit. We talked about a great many things and you can listen to that webinar on -- by clicking on the link for the archive. I personally thought it was fascinating but I'm a little biased. I -- Terry and I did that one, too. Next slide, please. Today, we'll be talking about the earned income tax credit. I'll be talking to you about that. And Terry will be talking to you about individual development accounts. Both are excellent for getting on that road to financial independence and being able to have savings and move towards some of the larger goals that you may have in your life. Next slide, please. [ Pause ] Terri? >> Terri Uttermohlen: Yes [laughter]? Okay. A lot of what we're -- we want to talk about and what we're trying to encourage actually is financial independence through work and -- the slide 13. I think somebody needs to mute their phone. Slide 13 says "Are there risks?" And I'd be absolutely lying to you if I said "No," that there aren't any risks, that it's not -- that you can't, you know -- can't go wrong if you go to work. You can't go wrong. But there are greater risks to not going to work because we do these things, these things called work in order to have more money. They have more "Ors" like Djuna was talking about, more "Ands" in your life. I wouldn't live where I live. I wouldn't do what I do for fun. I wouldn't have the luxuries that I have if I weren't working, and I also have a disability and I had on benefits in the past. And I was very grateful that I was successful when I took the risk and went back to work. Because there are risks, you need to be smart. You need to think about what benefits you get. You need to drive the train. You need to learn what work incentives apply to you and we're going to talk -- we've talked a lot about work incentives in the last webinar. But work incentives are rules in Social Security's program and other programs to encourage work; and if you use them, they can help you make a successful transition that isn't a shock. So you want to learn the work incentives, you want to understand the Ticket to Work which is another work incentive that Social Security offers. It's a way for people to get different types of rehabilitation services. Slide 14. Follow the rules. I cannot tell you how important it is that you report your work to Social Security and that you report your work to other benefit providers; if you get food stamps, housing. You don't want to be overpaid, or if you are overpaid, because it happens. You don't want it to -- somebody to send you a letter saying that we want a lot of money back. You want to follow the rules, understand the rules. If you can't understand them, find somebody who can help you. Get some family support or get someone in the community that can work with you, to help you understand how work will affect your benefits and who you need to report it to. Keep records. If you make a report, I want you -- I'd like for any of you guys who decide to go to work to get a notebook and in that notebook I'd want you to keep your receipts for expenses that you make out of pocket that are related to your disability and necessary for work and I want you to keep your paystubs and W-2 forms. It makes it a lot easier to report to Social Security or other benefit providers if you have that information at your fingertip. If you call or go to a Social Security and report your work, keep the receipts that you get, write down who you talk to just to keep the records clear so you know that you've reported it, you know who you talk to, you know when you did it, and who you gave your paystubs to. It's -- I just can't stress it enough. I think a lot of times people are afraid of Social Security because it's a big agency and things happen, but it is much better if you report work as you're doing it. All right. Next slide. >> Ray Cebula: Okay. And I think we're turning it back over to Djuna, but I want to interrupt for a moment because we did have a question and it relates to the last webinar we did as well. Somebody's asking if there's a website where they can find the video from the previous webinar of the veteran who got his job through the Ticket to Work program; and she wants to share it with other people in her community and there most certainly is. This is the place where you're going to find the part one of today's session, as well as all of the other webinars that are available in that archive. And it is http://www.ilr.cornell.edu backslash edi backslash m-wise-webinars.cfm; and I'm going to ask Jamie to put that in the chat box for you as well, and you'll be getting that again later. You can also look at social security.gov/work and you'll find Robert's story as long -- as well as a bunch of others. There's some really good success stories. Okay. Djuana, take it away on the EITC. >> Djuna Mitchell: Can you hear me? Am I being heard correctly because I had a little issue with my phone? >> Ray Cebula: You are being heard. >> Djuna Mitchell: Okay. I just wanted to -- before we go on to the -- in -- or earned income credit, I wanted to add something to what Terri said. I also suggest in that notebook that you keep all of the correspondents you get from Social Security, including the envelopes. It's extremely important and let me tell you why. Because sometimes it goes out a little bit later than it should've or, you know, you get it a little bit later than we would've liked, and it's important to be able to demonstrate when you got a particular piece of correspondents. So keeping the envelope so that you have the post mark is incredibly important. I would recommend if you're into to folders -- when I was a CWIC and before I started working for Social Security back when I was a beneficiary. I'm a huge fan of pocket folders. The pocket folders with the holes where you could actually clip them into the binder, those are actually really helpful for this in keeping this organized or even a nice accordion folder, whatever form of organization works best for you; but that would be among my recommendations for keeping all of this together. Okay. Now, on to the earned income tax credit. Next slide, please. Earned income tax credit is a tax credit for low-to-moderate income workers ages 25 to 64, or people who are 18 to 64 with a qualifying child. You can file for it even if you didn't earn enough to file taxes, meaning, if you worked, if you had a job for [inaudible] and you made some money and you qualified for this credit, the IRS instead of taking money from you, they will give you some because you worked depending on your circumstances and the amount varies depending on your circumstances, the size of your family, et cetera. But you're basically saying, "Hey, I worked. I have this credit," and they'll send you a check or they'll make an electronic deposit into your bank account however you get your money from the IRS, and then you take that money, put it in a savings account, put it in an IDA which Terri will tell you about later. You can maybe, you know -- you could do some different things with that money. You can work on -- you can work on your goal list. You can work on more "Ands." So if you've had some "Ors," you can clear some of your "Ors" off your list and start working on more "Ands." So it's a great thing to basically get paid more for the work you did anyway. Next slide please. If you want more information on the earned income tax credit, you want to locate your locate volunteer income tax assistance, contact your local chapter of the American Association of retired persons, AARP. They can help you find the information on filing in your area and maybe point -- if they can't do it, if you don't qualify for assistance from them, maybe they can point you to another organization that would be able to help you in terms of filing for your earned income tax credits so that you get all of the funds that you're entitled to. You worked, why not reap some benefits from it? You are in the right. Ray, if you could read that -- those two websites for me, that would be [inaudible] helpful. >> Ray Cebula: Absolutely. If you want more information about the earned income tax credit, you can visit www.choosework.net backslash blog backslash jsp backslash bloglist.jsp?tag equals earned underscore tax underscorecredit; and here's a much easier one, www.irs.gov/eitc. And I want to -- I've let you all know before if you've been with us before that the Social Security website is a phenomenally user-friendly website. I just want to give the IRS a plug too, because that one's pretty easy and pretty friendly to use, too, so don't be afraid of it -- www.irs.gov/eitc. >> Terri Uttermohlen: All right. Are you ready for me? >> Ray Cebula: I am ready for you, Terri. >> Terri Uttermohlen: You're ready for me. I want to add one quick thing to stress something that my illustrious colleague, Ms. Mitchell, talked about with the volunteer income tax program and they're -- you can get help preparing your taxes for free and a lot of times people under the earned income tax credit don't think that they have enough earnings to get anything, but they often do. And even if you don't have a refund, this is a credit; this is money in your pocket and you can get somebody to help figure you figure it out for free. So there's no loss. So make use of that website and make use of the volunteer income tax services... >> Ray Cebula: Terri, Terri. Just for everyone's information, the state of New York two years ago left $83 million on the table that should have been included then paid out to people had they only claimed the EITC. >> Terri Uttermohlen: Wow. >> Ray Cebula: So it's there for the asking; it's free money. >> Terri Uttermohlen: Wow! Think I could call them up and give them my [inaudible] number [laughter]? >> Ray Cebula: Yeah, exactly [laughter]. Only if you share. >> Terri Uttermohlen: Oh, oh. Okay. Yeah, I'll share it with my husband -- I mean, no, no [laughter]. Okay. Let's talk about individual development accounts and this is another really wonderful program and another opportunity for you to get money from somebody else to help you do something that you want to do. An individual development account is a savings program and you save for a goal -- I'm on slide 19. You save for a goal and it depends on what kind of program you're in, what goal it is. And -- but you said it in the beginning. Let's say you say, "I'm going to save $1500 toward my small business that I want to start. And you sign up with one of these individual development account programs and they say, "Okay. If you do that, we'll give you $3 for every one that you save. When you meet your goal, that's $1500, you'll have -- I have to do some quick math here -- $6000 [laughter] in your hot little hands to start your small business. Different individual development account programs have different rates of matching, some of them are a dollar for a dollar. I've seen them as high as $8 for every $1, meaning, that if you've put in $800 -- or put in a $100, they put in 800 and you end up with 900 at the end. They're for specific program -- for specific purchases, specific goals and you've got to contribute. I mean, this is -- you're buying into your future. Next slide. So what can you save for? There are different kinds of IDAs. There are federal IDAs under the Assets for Independence Act, and they are restricted. You can do three things. You can do -- you can save for purchase of a home, you can save for capitalization of a small business and you can save for education. There are other kinds of individual development accounts, for example, the state of Oregon has one that lets you buy adaptive equipment; or let's you redevelop at home, you know, repair at home so that it'd be -- that it's livable. What I would suggest that you do is that you get to know what's in your area and that you take advantage of this. Now, one of the things is almost all of these require that the contributions make are earned income. So this is another work incentive. This is a way for people to get to work and make work pay so that they're -- they have an overall advantage when they're done at the end of the day, which is really what we all want to have happen. So slide 20, Ray, there's two websites on this. One, they're both federal resources. I also suggest -- and I'm going to have Ray read them in a second, but I also suggest that you go out to your favorite web browser, and use your favorite search engine, and enter the name of your state and the words "individual development account" and see what's out there because there may be private individual development accounts. There may be state ones that are separate from the federal. They may have different requirements. But it is a really good way to capitalize on your earnings to reach a goal that you want to reach like home ownership. So you want to do the websites? >> Ray Cebula: All right. As Terri said, just using Google and typing in your state name and IDA is going to get you a lot of information. But there are some other websites. One is http://idaresources.org backslash afigrantees. That's idaresources -- one word -- dot org, forward slash A-F-I-grantees; that's also one word. And for more information on how IDAs can work for you, check out http://cfed.org backslash programs/idas. Now, Terri, this got a lot of action [laughter]. There are a lot of people out there who wants some free money, so what I'm going to do is I want to go back to the EITC for one minute and ask Djuna, is the EITC taxable income? >> Djuna Mitchell: You mean, what you receive from... >> Ray Cebula: What you receive from that, yes. >> Djuna Mitchell: That is a good question. I am not sure. I'm going to be really honest with you. I'm going to have to check into that and get back to you. >> Ray Cebula: Okay. I'm pretty sure it's not. I'm pretty sure that it's not and someone else wanted to know whether the EITC would be a -- would be income or resources specifically for the SSI program. >> Djuna Mitchell: I think it is. I think it depends on how long you have the funds, but you know what, that would be funds that you could take and put it in a pass. You can pass [inaudible] it to a [inaudible] support. You could take it and use it to buy a pass, which is equipment that you need to run your business for your own self-support. I'm sorry. Are you going to say something Terri? Or did I not hear what I thought I heard? >> Ray Cebula: I think you did not. >> Terri Uttermohlen: I'm doing a quick search, Djuna. Well, you're talking about -- I'm pretty sure it's not income. >> Ray Cebula: It's not income for SSI and it's excluded from resources for 12 months. So you have a good long time to actually plan to use that work. Let's say you received an EITC check today for $4000. It would not count and would not count as a resource and that would give you 12 months from the day you receive it to find an IDA that would work well for you, or to set up a pass plan. So Social Security is going to give you time to make some plans. And, Terri, for you I've pretty much got some of the same questions. What about an IDA? Is that going to be accountable resource for SSI? >> Terri Uttermohlen: If it's under the Assets for Independence Act or under the Temporary Aid the Needy Families, which is what they co-welfare these days; if it's under one of those two programs, it is not income and the money that you save, that you set aside even for SSI is excluded. So let's say you put $10 a month away and that $10 a month, SSI wouldn't count as income because you're setting it aside in an IDA and it wouldn't count the money that you have in the account as a resource. If it's an IDA under another program, it's not excluded although it may be excluded as a resource if you don't have any access to it. It just depends on the type of IDA, how it's set up, whether or not you have access to it while you're saving money. But if it's under the -- as I said, under the AFIA, the Assets for Independence Act, which is that first website, or if it's under the Temporary Aid the Needy Families, under the -- your local welfare agency, then it would be excluded. >> Ray Cebula: All right. And I think, Terri, some of the special -- I'm calling them specialty IDAs -- are under some waivers and I'm thinking back to the youth transition demonstration projects that there were some particular state and local IDAs that also are excluded, but when you're talking about state and local because they're very particular waivers from Social Security, you have to check one -- check each one individually. It's not safe to assume that it's not going to count unless it is a federally funded IDA. >> Terri Uttermohlen: Right. >> Ray Cebula: All right. And that I think... >> Terri Uttermohlen: Takes us to Ticket, or... >> Ray Cebula: Well, some... >> Terri Uttermohlen: Or does it take us to... >> Ray Cebula: It takes us to more questions. >> Terri Uttermohlen: Okay. >> Ray Cebula: My God! Free money just gives us rise to all kinds of questions [laughter]! Are individual accounts -- are individual development accounts only for people with disabilities? >> Terri Uttermohlen: No, they're for people with low income and few resources. They're actually -- there's a really high correlation for people with disabilities to also be living at/or below the poverty level and the IDA programs are primarily for people in poverty and it just happens to also -- to coincide with a lot of people who have disabilities. >> Ray Cebula: All right. Okay. And we have lots of people who were just asking how much they can make without affecting benefits or how income is affecting benefits and we will give you websites at the -- websites and phone numbers because those particular questions are peculiar to you and your situation, so we can't give general information out like that but we will give you a resource to get that information. So, Terri, are we moving along -- oh, I'm sorry. Djuna, we're on the Ticket to Work. >> Djuna Mitchell: Yes, we are. Next slide, please. >> Terri Uttermohlen: [Inaudible] Ray [laughter]. >> Djuna Mitchell: Okay. Working can lead to more than just financial independence; you can meet people; you can learn new skills; you can contribute in meaningful ways. I met -- I've been married twice. I met my first husband because I was getting off the train while he was getting on the train, both of us trying to get to our respective homes from work. I met my second husband and my current husband on paratransit because I was on my way to work from a doctor's appointment. So working and traveling has been very, very good to me [laughter]. >> Terri Uttermohlen: And I met Djuna Mitchell through work, so life is good. >> Djuna Mitchell: Yes, you meet -- you make a lot of interesting connections through work. You make lifelong friends, lifelong work associates. You make connections that you don't have any idea how much they will impact your life until much, much later in the game because I never thought that starting up a conversation with a guy I met while we were both traveling on paratransit would turn into -- I'm married to him and we're discussing, you know, dogs and, you know, what to buy his mother for her birthday and my mother for her birthday. I never envisioned that it would come to all of that. So work can be rewarding in more ways than one -- not to mention, you pick up some new skills, you get paid for a job. There are many, many advantages to work. Okay, Ticket to Work. It's a free and voluntary program. You don't have to; it would be nice if you did but evaluate your own situation; look at where you are. Determine if it's good for you at this point. The gentleman whose video was on the first part of the presentation, someone actually spoke to him about Ticket twice. The first time they spoke to him about Ticket, he didn't feel like he was quite ready to go there. The second time they spoke to him about Ticket, his health had improved, he was feeling better. He was feeling more ready so he went after it the second time. You know, if it's -- excuse me. If it's for you right now, great. If it's not for you right this second, just keep it in the back of your mind and when you feel better, when you feel like you can, when you feel like you're a bit stronger, go for it. Take a shot at that possibility; grab that brass ring. One of the questions that I always get when I do this presentation, or webinars like this, is people always ask me, "Is it really possible?" Yes, it is. If you believe in you and you can put together that team of other people who believe in you, and you're willing to do the work and know that this is -- this is a decathlon or a marathon; it's not a sprint. It is not instant pudding. It's not going to happen immediately, but you will get there. So if you really -- if you're interested right now, call the Ticket to Work helpline, 1-866-968-7842. These are the people who can answer your specific questions about your situation. You know, the questions that we make -- not be able to address right now because we are in a very public forum, but call the helpline. Let them answer your specific questions so you can get on that road to your version of financial independence whatever that may be. Next slide, please. Okay. So you decide you're ready. Hoorah. All right. By the way, if I sound enthusiastic about this it's because I am. I was a beneficiary of both programs. I know what it is to be there. I know what it is to work your way off. I realize that it may not be an easy thing, but it is in every bit a worthwhile thing. So my enthusiasm is quite real and quite genuine. First thing you want to do, find an employment network that works for you. Interview them, just like you would interview a personal assistant, just like you would interview if you were looking for a child care provider for your child, or you were looking for a housekeeper for your parents. Interview them. Ask them about their skills. Ask them what they can do relative to what you need. It is perfectly okay and we want you to interview as many employment networks as you need, to find the ones that work for you. Stay connected to your employment network, you know. Some employment networks, they want you to contact them by phone, in person, by email, however that works for you. Call the Ticket to Work helpline and I'll repeat the numbers again because I know I talk a little fast. I'm a New Yorker by birth, so talking quickly comes very easily. It's 1-866-968-7842 voice, or 1-866-833-2967 TTY. Or, if you'd rather do something that doesn't require contact with another human being and is a bit more anonymous, check out www.socialsecurity.gov/work. That way, you can check into some different resources. No one has to know that you're checking until you feel more comfortable [inaudible] more public with your efforts. Next slide, please. >> Ray Cebula: All right. Djuna, the next slide is our success story, and before we do that success story, we have a question. Do all SSI and SSDI recipients have a Ticket to Work and are work incentives available only to individuals who have a Ticket to Work. >> Djuna Mitchell: Well, the short answer to that question is most people who receive SSI and SSDI are Ticket eligible, yes. And the second question is everyone has access to work incentives. There are some advantages to Ticket like being protected from the medical continuing disability review that are specific to Ticket, but there are -- the work incentives, some of them are available to all beneficiaries. >> Terri Uttermohlen: [Inaudible] the Ticket to Work is its own work incentive. This is one of the things that I think we get confused. People think that you've got to have the Ticket in order to use as other work incentives and you don't -- just as Djuna said, you don't have to have -- don't have to be using the Ticket to access impairment-related work expenses or any of the other work incentives that are available to you. >> Ray Cebula: All right. And somebody wants to know what's an example of an employment network; they're not sure what that means. >> Djuna Mitchell: Okay. Can -- let's see. I'm trying to figure out. Can I pull up the site really quickly? That's the only way I can give you an example of an employment network on... >> Terri Uttermohlen: Let me -- I can give... >> Djuna Mitchell: Go ahead. Go ahead, Terri. >> Terri Uttermohlen: Okay. An employment network is a -- usually of a nonprofit agency in the community that provides rehabilitation-type services. It may be someone who -- or an organization that would help you with the resume, maybe help with job placement, help you get training or things that you need in order to get a job. Most state vocation rehabilitation agencies are employment networks as well, but in addition to that there's employment networks in the community. Some provide benefits counseling which has helped to understand the work incentives. Some provide the kinds of services that they've always provided and they use the Ticket to Work to help fund them, like, let's say it's an agency that provides job coaching. Some employment networks are employers and they hire people with disabilities and they use the -- their statuses and employment network to help pay for accommodations or other things that that person needs to work. There are a lot of different types out there. You can find them on the -- actually, I want to make sure I'm not lying. Djuna said on the [inaudible] network -- do we have the list of available networks? >> Djuna Mitchell: Yes, it is. You can go through the Find/Help tool and put in search parameters and get on the road to finding the employment network that works well for them. >> Ray Cebula: All right. Great! Thank you. So we have a success story. Here's another success story that you may want to share with folks out in the community. In 2007, Terri was diagnosed with cancer and lost her job as a result. And her Social Security benefits helped her, as she put it, get through the storm. When she recovered, she assigned her Ticket and is now working two jobs that she loves very much and is happily in remission. So, Mike, if you could queue up Terri's video for us? >> Terri Uttermohlen: Just for the record, this isn't me [laughter]. It's a different Terri. [ Pause ] >> Ray Cebula: Michael, we're waiting for Terri's video. [ Pause ] >> Terri Uttermohlen: I think this is when the little sign comes up that says [laughter]... >> Ray Cebula: Yeah. >> Terri Uttermohlen: Thank your patience while we deal with... >> Ray Cebula: Exactly. >> Terri Uttermohlen: ...technical problems. >> Ray Cebula: I'm trying to zap him a note right now. [ Pause ] >> Terri Uttermohlen: Well, if you ever wanted proof is this really live, it is. >> Ray Cebula: It's really live. All right. What we're going to do until Mike comes back to us, I'm going to start up again when Mike is able to get back online. He'll interrupt us but right now I'm going to move us ahead to Terri's section. Is financial independence possible for me? >> Terri Uttermohlen: And honestly, that's only a question that you can answer for yourself, and how you define financial independence. As Djuna said, for her it was to have more "Ands" and I've certainly had points in my life where I've had to go, "Well, I could do this," or "I could do that," and I think we all do that, actually. I mean, even now working. But is it possible? It's going to take dedication. It's going to take some organization. It's going to take support. If there's things that you can't -- don't feel like you're capable of doing -- the road to where you want to get, find people who can help you do it. It could be an employment network, it could be state VR, it could be family, it could be a friend. You have to drive the train and you have to decide that it's worth getting on that train and riding it to wherever you want to be. You have to be lucky sometimes. Sometimes you have to be in the right place at the right time. Sometimes you have to network and -- or volunteer and put in some time without pay to prove to some -- to yourself and someone else that work is for you. We can't answer that, in other words. Is it worth the risk? I believe it was and for me it was way more than worth the risk. For Djuna it was way more than worth the risk. We both have been beneficiaries. We have both struggled financially, but what we really want is for people who make that choice and take that risk to take advantage of all of the work incentives to take advantage of the earned income tax credit, to take advantage of poverty-related programs like individual development accounts so that work pays so that if you do it, it's worth doing it. And I'm going to pass it back to you, Ray for more... >> Ray Cebula: All right. And I believe we have Terri's video. So, Michael, if you could queue that up now. [ Pause ] [ Music ] [ Pause ] [ Music ] >> I grew up here in Des Moines, Iowa; college here, worked here all my life, raised my children here. I am the proud mother of three very fine sons. I've been a single mom for over 20 years, but they all turned out terrific. I have worked ever since I was 16 years old. [Background Music] The last job that I had, I was downsized after 11 and a half years, very suddenly. And it was devastating to me. I was 51 years old at the time and it's difficult for a middle-aged person to find another job. I was diagnosed with cancer and I had to go in for a biopsy; and after the biopsy I went back to my temporary job and I had been terminated there as well. So all of a sudden I was 52 years old without a job, no insurance and a mortgage to pay. I went to the Department of Human Services basically to start out with -- to get food assistance. >> Suzanne Paulson: With Terri, she was -- had worked a lot in the past, and so she qualified for Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI. >> Terri: Just what you need right now is an income. I said, "Yes, I do." And before I even knew it, I don't remember doing anything but the next thing I knew, she called me. And she said, "I've got you signed up for a Social Security Disability Income. You'll be getting this much money per month. >> Suzanne Paulson: Terri's probably one of the most enthusiastic people. She was very, very sick for a period of time and as she got better, she wanted to go back to work right away. >> Terri: My hair started to grow back and I was feeling stronger after stopping the chemotherapy, all the treatments, and I was ready to go back to work. I had no skills and it had been 13, 14 years since I had interviewed and I had lost my professional polish, so to speak; and I needed help [inaudible]. They told me about the Ticket to Work program. >> Suzanne Paulson: The Ticket to Work is just kind of that entry into employment services. What it does is it allows the person to get employment support. >> Doug Keast: [Inaudible] if there's a Social Security disability beneficiary that's coupled with an explanation of the Ticket to Work Program. >> Terri: They helped revamp my resume. My resume hadn't been updated for 14 years. So they helped me polish myself up a little lot and they encouraged me to take some classes to improve my skills, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, things that the job market needed at that point, skills that I didn't have. >> Suzanne Paulson: Basically, she was looking for jobs right away, so she was at the workforce center. She was, you know, redoing her resume. She was talking to the disability program navigator about different job leads. And she decided to go with a temp agency and then she got placed at Wells Fargo. >> Terri: And I finally got a full-time job. It was the best feeling in the entire world. I mean, my sons and I had an impromptu party. It was a wonderful feeling. I got hired full time. >> Suzanne Paulson: With SSDI, she had not worked since she became entitled to the benefits, so she had nine months where she could work and earn as much as she wanted to. With SSDI, there's three phases that a person goes through. You start out in phase one which is the trial work period and, like I said, you can make as much as you want, no effect on your benefits at all; and you keep your health insurance which is huge for people. Once you've used that ninth month, you go into the next phase which is a period of time where they'll suspend your benefits, if your earnings are high enough. If your earnings the next month go below a certain amount what they consider to be substantial dollar amount, then you would be entitled to your check. Once you used the ninth month, you start into this phase two. That period of time lasts 36 months. >> Terri: And then they said that even after the payments ended, if something should happen and I would become ill again, I was eligible to be approved immediately again for SSDI. And that was a comfort knowing that -- because once you're in remission, it's not a guarantee. I've been back in the workforce for three-and-a-half years now and it feels absolutely wonderful. I wake up in the morning and I can't wait to go to work because I know that I'm a valuable person, I'm a valuable employee, I like what I do, and I feel healthy again. So, and I'm using the skills that I learned while I was on the Ticket to Work to work program. >> Suzanne Paulson: Terry was a success story before she came into the office because Terri didn't believe that she couldn't do anything that, you know, she knew she could be whatever she wanted to do and she was already empowered, and I think that's important to know about Terry. >> Terri: Ticket to Work really cared. I received emails and phone calls from the individuals, from the Ticket to Work, the navigator from the program. I mean, they were always keeping in touch and it wasn't all business; it was, it's like they really cared for me as a person. I'm a very lucky woman. A lot of people out there can't even say they have one job. I have two of them and I like them both. It's great. Life is good. [ Music ] [ Pause ] >> Ray Cebula: Okay. Thanks, Mike. We are now going to give you some additional resources before we get into today's Facebook session, so I'm going to do this really quick because we're running out of time. We already talked about this a little bit. Djuna, talk to you about building your team and building that employment team is very important. Fortunately, we have a no-wrong-door policy. You can begin many, many ways. You can speak to an expert, call the Ticket to Work helpline and that line is 866-968-7842; or for TTY users, 866-833-2967. You can learn more about the Ticket to Work, read the blog and watch other success story videos at www.choosework.net. That's www.choosework.net. Employment networks or state rehabilitation agencies, whatever suits your needs best are available; and as we said, you can look at www.socialsecurity.gov/work for that. Once you have begun this journey to work, what's important is that you stay connected with your employment team because as Terri said early on, you're driving this train. You are in control of all of these people and we are all here to do what you want. We are not here to tell you what to do. We are having a Facebook Q and A session. I know the questions are still pouring in and there are lots of great questions but we're out of time, so I'm going to ask you to go to that Facebook session. It's going on very soon and will go on until 5 o'clock. If you want to talk -- if you want to do that Facebook Q and A session, go to www.facebook.com/choosework. You can participate and ask questions if you log in with your Facebook account. If you don't have an account, you can set one up in about two minutes. So get to www.facebook.com backslash help/createaccount. And if you do have accessibility or assistive technology issues or questions, you can look at www.facebook.com backslash help/accessibility. So you are going to go to facebook/work. If you want to participate via HTML, you're going to go to http://m.facebook.com backslash work hashtag !/choosework?v equals feedampersand underscore user equals zero. If you cannot access Facebook's, you can choose -- you can send your questions to webinars@choosework.net. That is webinars@choosework.net, and you can visit the Choose Work blog after the session to access this Facebook Q and A transcript, so you're not going to lose out because you don't have access to Facebook. Again, those Social Security website is www.socialsecurity.gov/work; that's going to get you a list of local employment networks, your state VR agencies and other Ticket to Work and work incentive information, and the helpline where you can give somebody a call and talk about your specific circumstances and then be referred to somebody locally who might be able to help you out at 1-866-968-7842; or for TTY users, 866-833-2967. Finally, we want to say thank you. If you have other questions, please get them to us. You can like us on Facebook at facebook.com/choosework; or you can follow us on Twitter if you know how to tweet at www.twitter.com/chooseworkssa. And once again, if you want to speak with somebody right away, that Ticket to Work helpline is 866-968-7842; or for TTY users, 866-833-2967. I want to thank you all for coming to today's webinar. When we do sign off, there will be an evaluation screen coming up and you can tell us how we did. Give us some comments, let us know what you think and then join the Facebook question and answer session. So I'm going to thank Terri and Djuna, thank Michael in the background, thank Jamie in the background and everyone have a great afternoon. Take care, people. [ Silence ] [ Noises ]