Author: Melissa Haggerty
Social Security’s rules are very strict about who meets the definition of “disabled”. However, some people who meet the definition of disability may not actually be eligible for disability payments. I like to explain to my clients that there are two pots of money out there, and both have eligibility rules. Once a person is found to be disabled, in order to start receiving payments, they must meet the criteria to receive payment from one (or both) pots of money.
To receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) a person needs to be very low income and low asset. For a single person, they can’t have more than $2000 in assets, with only a few exceptions. The income limits for SSI are very low as well, and they examine not just the disabled person’s income, but the income of everyone in the household when determining eligibility.
To receive Social Security Disability (SSD) a person needs to have become disabled shortly after stopping work. This is because for each quarter of a year that you pay in Social Security taxes, you are buying a type of insurance. Just like if you stopped paying for car insurance today, eventually, you aren’t going to be covered under that insurance policy any more.
The Date Last Insured (DLI) is the day when you are no longer covered by a special kind of disability insurance that allows you to access SSD benefits. If you become disabled after that date, you will not be able to tap into SSD and your only option for disability benefits will be SSI. The date last insured for most people is about five years after they stop working, but this needs to be calculated by Social Security on a case-by-case basis.
The classic example of a person who has an expired date last insured is Margaret. Margaret is a 48-year-old woman who left the work force in 2003 to raise a family. She fell ill with terminal cancer in 2014. Because Margaret stopped working in 2003, her date last insured was at the end of 2008. Because she did not become disabled until 2014, she will not be able to tap into SSD benefits, because her date last insured was long before she became disabled. Unfortunately, because Margaret’s husband has a job, and they have a bit of retirement savings, she isn’t eligible for SSI either. This is the sad and too common story of those who are not eligible to be paid out of either pot of money, even though they are unable to work.
If you are concerned that you might have an expired date last insured, you can call Social Security’s national hotline at 1 (800) 722-1213 and ask them to calculate your date last insured.