I’m Blind And I Work, But I Don’t Earn As Much As I Did Before I Lost My Sight. How Will This Impact My Social Security Disability Benefits If I’m Unable To Work At All In The Future?

If you are blind, you should not have to worry that working for lower wages will impact how much you can receive in future Social Security disability benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) does not want to discourage you from working now. Accordingly, there is a policy in place that allows you to protect your future Social Security disability benefits.

The Disability Freeze

The policy that protects your future Social Security disability (and other) benefits is known as the “disability freeze.”  A disability freeze excludes the years that you earned lower wages because of your blindness from how your Social Security disability benefits are calculated. Thus, if there comes a time when you file for Social Security disability, the amount that you can earn will be based on your earnings before your income was impacted by your disability. In other words, the time when your wages were lower is considered “frozen” and is not considered when determining the amount of your monthly Social Security disability benefit.

But You Have to Take Action

A disability freeze does not happen automatically, and it is not something that the Social Security Administration will consider on its own. Instead, you need to contact the Social Security Administration now to request the disability freeze.

If you have any questions about your rights or you need help getting the Social Security disability benefits you deserve, please start a live chat with us today and schedule an initial meeting with one of our experienced Social Security disability lawyers.

by Paul B. Burkhalter
Managing Partner of Morgan & Weisbrod, Board Certified in Social Security Disability Law.

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