How Much is My Social Security Disability?
When you apply for Social Security Disability Insurance, one of the big questions is – how much is my Social Security Disability? The amount of Social Security Disability Insurance or simply, Social Security Disability, is not based on how severe your disability is.
Your Social Security Disability is based on a number of factors, the main one being how much your average lifetime earnings were before you became disabled. In 2017, the average monthly benefits payouts ranged between $700 and $1,700 per month.
Another factor that impacts the amount of Social Security Disability you will get is whether you have another disability income source. If you are already getting disability benefits from another government-regulated source such as Workers’ Compensation Benefits or Temporary State Disability Benefits, then you can only receive up to 80% of the average amount you were earning before you became disabled. However, if you are receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits, Veterans’ Affairs (VA) benefits or from a long-term insurance policy that is private, then your Social Security Disability benefit is not affected.
So, How Much is My Social Security Disability?
To calculate how much is your Social Security Disability, you can use the simple Benefits Calculator on the Social Security Administration website.
Terms
If you wish to understand how exactly the calculation is made, the first let’s understand the terms:
- Covered Earnings – this is the income on which you paid your Social Security taxes to the FICA before you were disabled. If you wish to see your entire covered earnings history, you can log into your SSA Account and see your income statement.
- Average Indexed Monthly Earnings or AIME – the average of your covered earnings.
- Primary Insurance Amount or PIA – this is the base figure that the SSA will use to calculate how much is your Social Security Disability. You PIA is calculated based on your AIME.
- Bend Points – annually adjusted amounts of fixed percentages of various incomes.
Calculation Method
Social Security Disability is calculated using a complex weighted formula. This explanation is simplified for understanding.
- Firstly, you can only receive a maximum of up to $2,687 per month (as of 2017)
- Your PIA is first calculated by using a weighted formula on your AIME. This formula includes the bend points. For example, in 2017, the following was the PIA calculation: 90% of the 1st $885 of your AIME + 32% of AIME between $885 and $5,336 + 15% of AIME above $5,336
- The final PIA amount will be the maximum amount of Social Security Disability benefits that you will be eligible for.
Social Security Disability Back-pay
The other thing you get once your claim is approved is your SSD back-pay.
How much Social Security Disability back-pay you receive will depend on when you first applied for Social Security Disability as well as the date of the onset of your disability (which is confirmed via medical reports). You will be paid a lump-sum amount for all the months that you did not receive your disability benefits because you were waiting for your claim to be approved.
If your request for Social Security Disability was previously denied, and you appealed and finally were awarded Social Security Disability, then the back-pay will be calculated from the original date of application and not the appeal date. Which means you will get the entire amount from the time that you first applied for Social Security Disability.
