For people who are unable to work due to medical issues, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) acts as a financial assistance system. If you worry about losing your SSDI benefits if your health improves or you feel ready to return to work, the trial work period comes into play, solving this problem.
The Trial Work Period (TWP) is one of Social Security’s work programs that acts as an incentive for people who feel they might be ready to return to work. And depending on how much money you make from your job, Social Security Disability Insurance recipients may be eligible to test their ability to work for nine months while still receiving their full benefit payments and are still considered disabled.
This article will explain this incentive in greater detail. It is only one of many Social Security programs that help beneficiaries who desire to work.
Understanding Everything About Trial Work Period
The TWP gives SSDI recipients the chance to consider whether working is the appropriate choice for them while still receiving their nine-month benefits. A single TWP is available for each Social Security disability claim to help beneficiaries while they look for long-term work.
No matter how much money they make during the TWP, they still receive the full SSDI benefit payments. Understanding that the nine months don’t need to be consecutive is important. You have used the TWP once you have used those nine months.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) considers your wages over a six-month (5-year) period when determining whether you have used your TWP. Beneficiaries must continue to comply with the SSA’s disability requirements during those nine months and report any work activity.
How Does the Trial Period Work?
To determine whether a month counts toward one of the nine months of your TWP, Social Security uses your monthly earnings before taxes. Any month in 2022 in which you make at least $970 will count toward your TWP.
You would have used one of your nine TWP service months. For instance, if you started your TWP in 2022 and received $1,500 in January and $800 in February, one of your TWP service months is any month in which you work more than 80 hours or make $970 if you began your TWP as a self-employed person.
Reporting Wages
The SSA, whether you are receiving SSDI or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), must be informed of your employment history or earnings. A service provider for the Ticket to Work (Ticket) Program can assist in reporting wages to Social Security and clarify job and wage reporting requirements.
Continuity of Benefits After the Trial Work Period Ends
Once your nine months of TWP are up, another period of 36 months begins, which is known as the Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE). Social Security will assess your wages and work history if you continue to work during this time.
After considering all of the SSA’s work incentives, a person is typically regarded as engaged in Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) if their monthly income exceeds a specified threshold. The SGA limit amount for persons with disabilities other than blindness is $1,470 per month in 2023. For persons who are blind, the amount of earnings that indicate SGA is $2,460 per month in 2023.
This figure, along with some additional work incentives that allow Social Security to disregard a portion of your wages, is used by Social Security to calculate your eligibility for benefits.
If you continue to have a disability and do not perform any work that Social Security considers SGA during any month of your EPE, you will be entitled to receive disability benefits for that month. Once the SSA has examined your wages for the months where you make more than the SGA threshold, you may no longer receive benefits.
If Social Security determines that your work constitutes significant gainful activity for the first time following the conclusion of your trial work period, the benefit will be paid for the month in which your disability ended and the two months that followed.
However, the SSA can reinstate your benefits without a new application if your wages drop below the SGA threshold and you are still within the 36-month window.
Ticket To Work Program
For adults ages 18 to 64 who receive Social Security benefits (SSDI or SSI) and wish to work, the Ticket to Work (Ticket) Program provides career development help. The Ticket Program is a free, opt-in service.
It links people with disabilities with the services and assistance they need to be successful in the workforce and helps them take steps toward financial independence.
The Ticket Program connects you with free employment programs to determine whether working is appropriate for you, whether you are preparing for work, locating employment, or sustaining success while employed.
What Might Stop the Benefits of the Trial Work Period?
A person’s trial work period will end if they exceed the threshold for more than nine months in five years while working. The Social Security Administration will then determine whether the income from this period qualifies as Substantial Gainful Activity.
SGA for a non-blind person will be characterized as compensation above $1,470 per month as of 2023. They may no longer be regarded as disabled, resulting in the termination of their benefits, if their wages consistently exceed the SGA threshold for at least one month after the end of the trial work period.
If your disability ends for a cause other than going back to work, such as a medical recovery, your benefits may also end. The SSA offers an extended eligibility period for benefits following the conclusion of the trial work period.
This prolonged time, often known as the re-entitlement period, lasts 36 months. Benefits stop three months after the trial work period ends if earnings exceed the SGA.
Disability benefits continue indefinitely throughout the re-entitlement term until wages reach the SGA threshold.
Conclusion
People receiving Social Security Disability Insurance who want to look into employment opportunities while preserving their benefits should look into the trial work period and understand how it works.
The trial work period allows beneficiaries to test their ability to work and still be considered disabled. They can work for nine months while continuing to receive their full SSDI benefits payments, regardless of their earnings.
Although the nine months do not have to be consecutive, once they are up, the trial work time is regarded as having been used.
