If you qualify for the Federal Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, your payments are determined by a complex formula drawn from a number of factors regarding your work experience, income, and age. By the nature of this formula, you will always receive less than what you earned, on average, over the years you worked – in some cases much less and in others up to 90 percent of what you used to win.
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If you have an account with the Social Security Administration (SSA), you can see a detailed and more accurate calculation of your benefits on the SSA website. For a quick estimate of what someone in a job similar to yours might receive if approved for disability in 2018, try the calculator below.
Complete the three prompts below to estimate how much you could receive from SSDI and how that compares to what you are currently earning.
Your monthly income now:$0Estimated disability benefit:$0
Based on the information you entered, you would probably not be eligible for disability benefits.
You have about 0 work credits.6 less than the minimum required for someone your age to qualify. You will need to work 2 more years to earn enough credits to receive these benefits.
The figures in this calculator are only rough estimates. Read more on the methodology and data used.
This calculator provides a rough estimate of what someone might expect to receive from SSDI. For a detailed view of your individual finances, see the Social Security Administration.
Source: Social security administration
How the calculator works
This calculator reproduces the process of calculating SSDI payments from the SSA.
This process includes the determination of elapsed years, calculation years, and indexed average monthly income (AIME) in accordance with SSA guidelines. These variables are then used in the SSA Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) formula to calculate the benefit amount.
To prevent you from entering your income each year, this calculator makes assumptions about past income. This assumes that you made less money early in your career because you had fewer skills and less experience, and later in your career your income grew more slowly.
This simulated wage growth and simplified formula provide only a rough estimate of disability benefits. They do not take into account mitigating factors that may affect payments, such as years spent caring for a child instead of earning an income. This calculator also does not include some SSA provisions, such as the “work recency” test, which determines whether you have worked recently enough to qualify.
For a more detailed overview of disability benefits by income, try the SSA calculators or create an account with the SSA.
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