2022 Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) Raises for SSDI and SSI Claimants - Numbers You Need to Know - YouTube

Hi there. I'm Paulette Balin and I'm a principal  here at Balin Law I am happy to share with you  

the fact that Social Security has just increased  the SGA level for 2020 to $1,260 [$1,350 for 2022, $1,310 in 2021] dollars it had  

been $1,220 dollars [in 2019] and now we have an  increase of 40 dollars and what does that mean  

that means that if you make less than one thousand  two hundred and sixty dollars you can pursue your  

Social Security disability claim if you gross  that much or more you don't even pass go in the  

Social Security world because Social Security  will not process your application they will say  

you are above SGA and you do not have a viable  disability claim so how do we work with that  

$1,260 dollars [$1,310 in 2022] let's say you make three thousand dollars a month that's gross now we can subtract  

from that impairment related work expenses we can  income average if it's over a 12-month period and  

you've got some months that your income is higher  in some months lower we can excuse some earnings  

as subsidized work activity let's say you're  working for a relative or a friend and you're  

being paid at a much higher amount than the true  value of your services there are some things that  

we can do to correct the gross amount to come up  under that threshold amount of  

$1,260 dollars [$1,310 in 2022] and when we do that  then your disability case is in full play.

The other number that came out is the new amount for  a trial work period. So if you're off work for 12  

months or have otherwise excused the work activity  to less than SGA, you can make $910 [$970 in 2022, $940 in 2021] dollars a month  

or more and have it be considered what's called a  trial work period and you're allowed to have nine  

trial work periods in a five-year rolling period  and the reason that the trial work period is  

important is frequently it can take two to three  years if you've got to go through a full hearing  

before a judge to have your disability claim heard  and as long as you've been off work for at least  

twelve months from the time you've filed your  application or have had it otherwise excused as  

an unsuccessful work attempt for example then you  can give your hand a go at a trial work period and  

it won't come back to penalize you. I do want to  also share with you that the new SSI amount has  

come out and that is $783 [$841 in 2022, $794 in 2021] dollars a month you can make an SSI if your income is low enough  

and if you have no countable resources you can  have a stream of income of SSI which stands for  

Supplemental Security income and that is very  powerful for many people. But again, you have  

to have low enough countable resources and low  enough income and in terms of countable resources  

a single person still can only have $2,000 and a married couple can only have $3,000.

But again, that's a countable resource and your home doesn't count against you  

and one vehicle doesn't count against you. So it's  really, it can get very complicated. So I invite you  

to reach out to us we give a free consultation and  we're happy to answer any questions you might have.