New Tool to Calculate Disability Benefits

There are two different disability programs run by the Social Security Administration. The amounts those programs pay and how they calculate those amounts differ greatly. A new calculator from Disability Alabama provides an easy estimate of what your benefit could be.

Easy to use calculator

There are a number of factors that go into the calculation of a Social Security Disability Insurance benefit and likewise several different factors that determine Supplemental Security Income benefits. Disability Alabama’s disability calculator boils those factors down into a series of simple questions about household income, work history, and family status. Anyone with access to a phone or computer should be able to navigate our new disability calculator.

Social Security’s complex calculators

While our disability calculator provides an estimate, if you would like to dive deeper you can get a number directly from Social Security, if you’re willing to create or if you already have a “my Social Security” account.  my Social Security is an official portal to your personalized information with Social Security.

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of creating a my Social Security account, Social Security has a number of calculators that provide estimates for retirement or disability benefits. However, these calculators come with more complexity than our disability calculator.

What can affect the amount of your disability benefit?

There are a number of factors that can affect the accuracy of the estimated benefit. Because SSDI and SSI are different programs, different factors affect your monthly benefit amount.

1. SSDI is a governmental insurance program. How much SSDI someone receives depends on their work history and historical employment income. Therefore, while your SSDI benefit is not affected by your assets or any current household income, it will be affected by the number of years you worked and your taxable wages each year. If there are years you did not work, that can (but does not always) lower your benefit amount.
2. SSI is a governmental needs program. To qualify you must have limited assets and limited income. SSI is not affected by work history. How much you earned or did not earn while employed does not affect your SSI payment. However, if you meet the other eligibility guidelines, your benefit amount can be affected by other household income. This includes both the wages from someone in the household, as well as non-wage income like pensions.

While SSI is available for children, this calculator is only for adult beneficiaries. A child’s SSI benefit is determined differently from that of adults.

How to estimate your disability benefit:

1. CLICK HERE to use Disability Alabama’s disability calculator now. While you do not need any special information to complete the calculation you may want to take a moment to think about your average yearly income and current household income before using the disability calculator.
2. Contact Disability Alabama with your questions about whether you qualify for disability, for help with filing an application, and appeals of denials. 70% of disability claims are denied, don’t accept “no” as an answer.