If You Became Disabled, What Social Security Benefits Would You Receive?
This is the second of two quizzes on Social Security. This one focuses on disability benefits. The first quiz, published Aug. 29, was on retirement benefits.
Social Security disability is the main safety net for people who become so seriously and permanently injured that they are unable to return to paying work. Yet many Americans don’t know how the system works, including what it takes to qualify for these monthly benefit payments.
Just what do you know about Social Security disability? Take this quiz and see.
1. It takes a set number of Social Security “credits” to qualify for disability insurance benefits. What is a credit?
a. It is a calendar quarter of work in which you earned at least a minimal amount of money in covered employment. (“Covered employment” is any job in which you pay Social Security and Medicare taxes). The amount you need to earn is adjusted for inflation. In 1999, it was $750 per quarter.
b. It is a year in which you paid Social Security taxes.
c. You earn a credit for each $50 you paid in Social Security taxes.
2. It generally takes 40 credits to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits. How many credits does it take to qualify for disability benefits?
a. 40
b. 20
c. 10
d. It depends on your year of birth.
3. Naturally, to claim disability benefits, you must be disabled. How is “disability” defined for purposes of Social Security disability benefits?
a. A serious injury that will keep you from doing your current job for at least a year.
b. A serious impairment--mental or physical--that is expected to keep you from performing any substantial gainful work for at least 12 months, and/or result in your early death.
c. A serious impairment, including alcohol or drug addiction, that makes it difficult for you to keep working in your current profession.
4. Social Security disability benefits have a “waiting period” from the point that you become too disabled to work, during which you cannot collect benefits. How long is the waiting period?
a. Five months.
b. Six months.
c. One month.
d. One year.
5. If the family’s sole wage earner is disabled, can his or her spouse also get Social Security disability benefits, similar to the way they can claim spousal retirement or survivor benefits?
a. Yes.
b. No.
6. If you are receiving Social Security disability payments, would you jeopardize those payments by attempting to go back to work?
a. Yes.
b. No. You are encouraged to go back to work, if able. However, you must notify Social Security of your work attempts. Benefits can continue through a nine-month trial work period, plus an additional three-month grace period. If you’re able to continue working, and earn more than $700 a month, after that period, your disability benefits would stop.
7. Who determines whether you are too disabled to go back to work?
a. Your doctor only.
b. Your doctor and a state agency or review board.
c. A government agency, usually in your state, that looks at the medical evidence supplied by your doctor and sometimes interviews you personally.
8. Your disability benefit is equal to:
a. 75% of your retirement benefit at the time of disability.
b. 85% of your retirement benefit at the time of disability.
c. 100% of your retirement benefit at the time of disability.
9. Assuming you had steady maximum earnings (roughly $72,000 annually, or $6,000 per month, for several years prior to your disability), roughly how much would you receive in monthly Social Security disability benefits if you were seriously and permanently disabled in 1999 at age 45
a. $1,600, or about one-quarter of your working income.
b. $2,000, or about one-third of your working income.
c. $1,000, or about one-fifth of your working income.
d. $4,000, or about two-thirds of your working income.
10. If you are disabled when you have a dependent child (or children) younger than 18, your children, and sometimes your spouse, may also receive benefits. However, your family’s total disability payments, when claimed on your record alone, are subject to a cap. What is the most your entire family can collect in disability benefits on your record?
a. 200% of your primary monthly benefit.
b. 150% of your primary monthly benefit.
c. 175% of your primary monthly benefit.
d. It depends on the number of children in your household.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Answers:
1. a
2. d (Those born after 1975 can have as few as six credits, as long as they earned them in the last three years. Those who were born before 1957 need at least 21 credits, with at least 20 earned in the last 10 years.)
3. b
4. a
5. c (Additionally, children under 18--or who are also disabled or still in high school--can receive payments under the program too.)
6. b (You are encouraged to go back to work, if able. However, you must notify Social Security of your work attempts. Benefits can continue through a nine-month trial work period, plus an additional three-month grace period. If you’re able to continue working, and earn more than $700 a month, after that period, your disability benefits would stop.)
7. c
8. c
9. a
10. b
Send letters to Times staff writer Kathy M. Kristof in care of Personal Finance, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or e-mail kathy.kristof@latimes.com.
