How to Work Part-Time and Live Independently

 

Everyone in America today is dealing with the reality of high unemployment. Those who don't have a job now – the recently laid off, recent graduates or folks who have given up hope – all understand that jobs are scarce and it will likely be a long time before they find work again.

 

People who have jobs are – rightfully – nervous about what could happen if they lose it. Some are struggling to get by on part-time jobs, earning just enough to eat and cover basic expenses, hoping they can hang on until they're able to find a better deal.

 

In this harsh environment, the deaf community has an opportunity. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) offers a source of income and includes programs that enable us to earn additional income by working part time. Employers are reluctant to hire full-time staff because the additional expense of health care and other benefits is more than many can handle right now.

 

People willing and able to work part-time have an easier time finding work. If you collect SSDI and work part time, your income can be enough to live independently - but not live large - until you're able to find full-time work.

 

People receiving SSDI also  qualify for Medicare benefits, so health care is available even when your employer doesn't provide it. If you later become a full-time worker and still can't get health care benefits from your employer, you can continue with Medicare, but it's not cheap. More on that later.

 

SSDI includes programs with rules that define what work is and how your work affects your eligibility for SSDI. These rules can be confusing, which is one reason why so many SSDI beneficiaries complain of yo-yoing benefit checks and sudden demands to repay past benefits.

 

You must understand how these rules work and how they apply to you or you may face a nasty and very expensive surprise later. You must keep your eye on two balls – time and money.

 

Let's take a look at some of these rules and programs and the terms Social Security uses.

 

Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA)

 

This term is a fancy way of saying 'real work'. Social Security defines 'substantial' to mean work that '...involves doing significant physical or mental activities, or a combination of both.'

 

That's a very general and broad definition. The definition of 'gainful' work is more specific:

 

o     Work performed for pay or profit; or

o     Work of a nature generally performed for pay or profit; or

o     Work intended for profit, whether or not a profit is realized.

 

Notice the part that says 'work of a nature generally performed for pay or profit.' That means you can't game the system by collecting cash 'under the table' as payment, then pretend you're working for free. If you're doing work that normally pays, then Social Security assumes you're earning something from it. If you're self-employed and you didn't make any profit from your business, that's sad, but Social Security still counts it as work.

 

Why should you care? Because your past record for doing substantial gainful work affects how much you can collect in benefits, and if you do SGA work while collecting benefits, your benefits may be reduced or end.

 

Services

 

Social Security has another definition of work, called 'services'. If you earn more than $700 in a month, or if you work more than 80 hours a month in your own business, the Social Security counts that as 'real work'.

 

If you earn less than $700 a month or work less than 80 hours each month in your own business, your SSDI benefits are not affected.

 

 

 

Trial Work Period (TWP)

 

The good news about the trial work period is that you can continue to collect SSDI benefits and earn as much as you want from work. But – pay attention now – a nine-month clock is running while you work. And that does NOT mean nine months in a row.

 

Let's say you take a job in January that pays very well and you work for a full year. You worked more than nine months in a row. Your Trial Work Period ended in September, so your SSDI benefits end then, because you did real work during those nine months.

 

Now let's take another situation. You're a snowbird – you live in the south during the winter, live up north during the summer. To earn a little extra income, you work as a lifeguard for three months every summer. Each year, you earn money from real work for 3 months.

 

That's less than 9 months, so your SSDI benefits aren't affected, right?

 

WRONG!

 

The Trial Work Period counts all the real work – substantial gainful activity – that you do over five years.

 

So that first year you worked as a lifeguard, you worked 3 months. You did it again the next summer, so now your total of SGA work is six months. Third year, you work through the summer again, so now your total is nine months – and that means you've finished your trial work period. Bye-bye, SSDI.

 

 

Medicare

 

Let's say that happens – your SSDI ends, you continue to work – but your employer doesn't offer health care benefits. In that case, you can continue getting Medicare benefits just as you did when you received SSDI benefits, but now you'll have to pay for it. How much?

 

The main part of Medicare is called the Premium Hospital Insurance (Part A). If you've gotten SSDI or Medicare benefits for less than 30 quarters – that's seven and a half years -  the monthly  payment for Part A was $443 in 2009. That could easily eat up all or most of your income from part-time work.

 

But you can get a fat 45% discount if:

 

o     You earned money working for more than seven and a half years; or

o     You've been married for at least 1 year to a worker with seven and a half years or more of coverage; or

o     You were married for at least 1 year to someone who died and worked seven and a half years or more   of coverage; or

o     Are divorced, after at least 10 years of marriage, from a worker who had seven and a half years of coverage at the time the divorce became final.

 

Another piece of Medicare, called Premium Supplemental Medical Insurance (Part B) is available at $96.40 per month. Some states also offer additional discounts for Medicare coverage. Check with your local Social Security offer for details.

 

Next month, we'll look at the differences between SSI and SSDI.

 

- K

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