# 1st Social Security Disability Hearing Wednesday **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 2, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843 "2011-02-02T00:49:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/21 "2011-02-03T02:47:10Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Should it happen that I don’t get it at all, well, I’ll be 62 next December and I can draw SS then though there’ll be a penalty of a lot less than if I waited… > Q Um, you know that SSDI means you end up drawing less than if you’d made it to 65, right? ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/22 "2011-02-03T02:57:37Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Granted, SSDI isn’t ideal, but did you miss the part where Quasimodem and other posters alluded to his _dementia_? Are you seriously suggesting that finding employment is better than trying to qualify for disability? 😕 > > ETA: Good luck Quasimodem! This is where my brain was going too. If his dementia was causing problems with the job he held for years, I don’t see how learning a new job is going to be a viable option (unless it’s a completely brainless job, in which case he’d probably get more from SSDI). ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/23 "2011-02-03T04:02:19Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Um, you know that SSDI means you end up drawing less than if you’d made it to 65, right? Hm. I have my own SoSec statement right here, and it says that, if I became disabled right now, I would get about $300/month _more_ than if I retired at 62. 'Course, if I waited until age 66 I’d receive $191.00 _more_ than what disability would pay now. I can’t be arsed to do it real accurately, but collecting a slightly lower amount now instead of waiting until age 66, my break even point wouldn’t occur until I was about 75. I’d risk it. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/24 "2011-02-03T04:03:31Z")
> [@Rysdad](#): > > Hm. I have my own SoSec statement right here, and it says that, if I became disabled right now, I would get about $300/month _more_ than if I retired at 62. > > 'Course, if I waited until age 66 I’d receive $191.00 _more_ than what disability would pay now. > > I can’t be arsed to do it real accurately, but collecting a slightly lower amount now instead of waiting until age 66, my break even point wouldn’t occur until I was about 85. > > I’d risk it. How old are you now? Maybe that makes a difference? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/25 "2011-02-03T05:10:58Z")
Quasi, I just want to tell you both, good luck, we’re all counting on you. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SmHeP9Sve48/hqdefault.jpg "I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you. - Airplane") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmHeP9Sve48) Here’s hoping you can find some peace, eh? ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/26 "2011-02-03T05:22:42Z")
Keeping you in my thoughts, **Quasi**. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/27 "2011-02-03T06:01:20Z")
> [@AshenLady](#): > > Stay employed, get employed, but don’t try to depend on SSDI because you can’t possibly make it on that. You generally lose your SSDI benefits if you start working. Unless you lie to Social Security (not recommended). ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/28 "2011-02-04T00:30:19Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > How old are you now? Maybe that makes a difference? 57 And, I suppose it would, if I was nearer 62 (or 66). But for right now, it’d be a good bet for someone in my position. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/29 "2011-02-04T01:07:58Z")
Well. In case my disability doesn’t come through, I opted for my Social Security benefits at age 62 because of what I already mentioned: We live from paycheck to paycheck, D and I. By that I mean, there’s _nothing_ left at the end of the month, and I can’t even take my sweet wife out to eat at a nice restaurant. That’s one reason. Here’s another (not so pleasant to think about) one: With what’s going on me (and I can tell it’s getting worse, not better) I have no way of knowing what’s ahead and how much longer I’ll be able to contribute anything at all anymore. Right now, unless a cure is found, there’s a life expectancy on the average of 8 years. Now in my case, I have no way of knowing when the “clock” started. I _suspect_ it was as long as 5 years ago when I started going booga-booga, but who knows? I know what y’all are saying about the penalty of not getting what I paid in or the whole amount based on age, but I want my wife to be able to enjoy me and having me around to do stuff with as long as I am able, and if that means getting a little less than I would have, then so be it. Just FYI for those of you who care: D gets disabilty, and she works prn (as needed) to keep her respiratory care license active, so with that and a small pension I receive from my job as an RT, we’re making it. But we do have expenses which take up every bit of that money. I also keep _my_ RT license active, although I know I’ll never again work in the field. Guess I am just not willing to let that part of myself go. I am proud of every one of those 17 years taking care of sick folks and I guess my license represents that feeling. Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/30 "2011-02-04T01:20:37Z")
> [@Rysdad](#): > > 57 > > And, I suppose it would, if I was nearer 62 (or 66). But for right now, it’d be a good bet for someone in my position. I was only 52 when I went on SSDI and I am getting a little more than half of what I would have if I’d been able to wait until retirement age. And I was told that it wouldn’t go up to retirement level then. So I guess the closer you are to retirement age, the more you get! ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/31 "2011-02-04T01:22:03Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Here’s a surprise: before we went into the courtroom my attorney asked me about my “degenerative disc disease. How’s the pain with that?” > > Huh? > > “Yeah, your primary care doc notes here that you have it and it involves C6 and C7.” > > Well, I remembered I had an MRI, but at the time I was told I had arthritis in my neck, and that’s the only terminology used at that time. Nothing about my discs or the location of the disease. > > So hell, I thought it was just chronic (yeah it feels like a toothache in my neck all the time - worse in cold wet weather) and I’d have to live with it, take Aleve, Allopurinol, etc. I wish doctors would explain things better. Degenerative disc disease is a type of osteo-arthritis. Sending positive vibes. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843/32 "2011-02-05T01:47:08Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > I was only 52 when I went on SSDI and I am getting a little more than half of what I would have if I’d been able to wait until retirement age. And I was told that it wouldn’t go up to retirement level then. So I guess the closer you are to retirement age, the more you get! I can understand why, I think. Beginning in 2003 I started making twice as much as I had been making before then, so the extra amount I paid into SoSec probably jumped my estimated retirement/disablity amount. I dunno. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1st-social-security-disability-hearing-wednesday/569843.md?page=1)