This is the information the Social Security site gives:


How your earnings affect your Social Security benefits
During the trial work period, there are no limits on your earnings. During the 36-month extended period of eligibility, you usually can make no more than $940 a month or your benefits will stop. But, the work expenses you have as a result of your disability are deducted when we count your earnings to see if they can help you keep more of your benefits. If you have extra work expenses, your earnings could be substantially higher than $940 before they affect your benefits. This substantial earnings amount usually increases each year.

We deduct work expenses related to your disability from your earnings before we determine if you are still eligible for benefits. These expenses may include the cost of any item or service you need to work, even if the item or service also is useful to you in your daily living. Examples include prescription drugs, transportation to and from work (under certain conditions), a personal attendant or job coach, a wheelchair or any specialized work equipment.

I have heard you really need to be careful in doing this. Hopefully someone will come along and give you there experiances.

Hope this helps.

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/

Sorry, forgot to include the link.

OK, there are two separate issues with working on SSDI. One is substantial gainful activity and the other is trial work. There is an excellent blog post about these issues from a California colleague of mine: http://californiasocialsecuritylawyerblog.com/2008/10/18/how-much-money-can-i-earn-and-still-collect-ssdi-benefits/

As the article notes, the SSA has an electronic booklet on this issue.

You will have no problems at all if you work and earn an amount below the trial work amount each month. Good luck to you!

What DL is saying is that if you already have been approved for SSI you will have no problem.

If you work while trying to get SSDI you could and probably will be denied.

Just wanted to make it totally clear.

SSI and SSD are two different programs. You can have some additional income on SSD, but if you are on SSI, you can't as it is considered a chraitable program for when you don't have enough work credits to qualify for SSD. If you automatically got Medicaid when you were approved, you're probably on SSI. If you work on SSI, your benefits are in trouble.

Thanks for all the info. Just to be clear. I am on SSDI not SSI. We are having difficulty making ends meet. I am not able to do much, but I can set in my recliner with my legs up and type on the laptop. I have found a work at home job that I can do from my recliner on my laptop. I figure I can manage about 3 hours a day or 15 hours a week. That will probably add up to around $400 to $500 a month. This sound be well below any limit per SS. I just need to be sure and find out what I will need to do as far as notifing them or what.

You can earn up to $700 per month in 2009 and not trigger a trial work period: http://199.173.225.5/OACT/COLA/twp.html

This is for people who are already on SSDI, not for those who are applying.

Brent, this blog post may help: http://www.socialsecuritydisabilitylawyer.us/blog/2008/08/trial-work.html