[rehab] Blind people working

[Jan Bailey]

That's a complex question. Both are figured differently. If you earn over 
$1640 per month on SSDI, and that's when you earn it, not when you get it, 
you're not eligible after you work your nine trial work month period. For 
SSI I think they count your money when you get it, but you need to double 
check that. Before they take $2 for every one you earn, they take away what 
are called blind work expenses. That would be transportation costs, lunch, 
uniforms, equipment you might have to buy each month, and your FICA tax. I'm 
not sure bout state and federal tax, but Social Security should be able to 
answer that. You'll always be ahead of the game if you work some. You need 
to be sure they take away the blind work expenses for SSI, because the rules 
are different for the blind, and Social Security personnel don't always 
remember that. The earnings limit is more for the blind for SSDI as well. 
Hope this helps some. For SSDI you need prior permission to take away work 
expenses like transportation, but they might allow that.
Jan

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RJ Sandefur" <joltingjacksandefur at gmail.com>
To: "Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List" <rehab at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 6:18 PM
Subject: [rehab] Blind people working


> Hi, This is RJ. I live in Florida. I'm on both SSI, and SSDI, and some in 
> my family are incorraging me to work, while others are telling me, if I 
> work, I will lose my social security check. What's the real story here? RJ
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