Understanding Social Security Disability Benefits: A Calculation Guide

The federally funded Social Security Disability program aids taxpayers who have paid into Social Security and have a medically disabling condition by providing disability insurance. Such insurance provides income in cases where working is impossible due to a medical disability. However, most people do not know how much income the disability benefits will come to, which becomes of vital importance if you become disabled.

Things You'll Need

• Social Security statement
• All federal tax return summaries (optional)

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Go to Social Security Online's website for the online benefit calculator (see Resources).

• 2

  Enter your birth date in the box "Date of birth."

• 3

  Enter your planned retirement age under "Age at retirement."

• 4

  Choose the option "Today's dollars" under "Today's dollars or future dollars."

• 5

  Enter the amount you earned each year in the coordinating box under "Annual earnings." You can use the Social Security Statement or your tax return information.

• 6

  Enter the amount you expect to earn in total for the present year under "Earnings in 2010" and the estimated earnings for future years under "Earnings in 2011 and later."

• 7

  Click "Calculate Benefit" under the "Calculate" heading.

• 8

  Review your estimates. Eligibility for retirement, disability and survivor insurance is revealed under "Benefit eligibility." Below that, "Benefit estimates" provides your current disability benefit estimate.