Work and benefits can go together! Anticipating common questions can help you prepare for conversations about employment.
Everyone works. If you take a moment and think about each day, you may discover that you already work most of your day, such as washing dishes, cooking, yard work, shopping, volunteering, educational work and more. Since you're already working each day, perhaps the question is, "How can I get paid for working?"
No. You can work and maintain your SSI/SSDI checks within certain income limits. Or, you can choose to earn more than the limits and replace your SSI/SSDI checks with higher wages or self-employment income while keeping your health care benefits with no limits on earnings.
As long as you receive benefits, Social Security will review your case every few years to decide if you still meet their definition of a disability and if you will be allowed to continue getting benefits. If you assign your Ticket to Work to an employment network provider and follow your employment plan, Social Security will not conduct Continuing Disability Reviews while you are following your plan.
Yes! There are excellent state and national organizations and resources that can help you prepare for your job search, find a job that's right for you, and provide advice and support services to help you keep your job.
There are many federal, state and local programs that support people with disabilities to find and keep jobs, including paying for the extra costs of work. Examples include Minnesota Vocational Rehabilitation Services and Social Security work incentives, which both provide a range of support for the extra costs of starting to work.
If you lose your monthly cash benefits due to high earnings and then later you lose your job, you might not have to go through a long process of applying for benefits. There are work incentives that allow your checks to be started again without reapplying for benefits.
Get the details on work incentives from Disability Benefits 101.
