Social Security Disability should be your last resort. This statement might sound funny coming from a Social Security disability lawyer, but I am telling you this because for almost all people the process that one goes through to get their SSD benefits will be long and difficult. There are also no guarantees that you will win your benefits. I have people that e-mail me all the time that are working and contemplating whether they should stop and apply for Social Security disability benefits. My response to this question is almost always the same. If you can work you should work, because you will be better off financially and the longer you work the more you pay into the system, so that when the day comes where you absolutely cannot work anymore you will be entitled in most cases to more money per month. Now there are times when people are working and it is adversely affecting their health to a dangerous point. I am not suggesting that a person in this situation should not apply for Social Security disability. When you apply for Social Security disability benefits under the rules you must be out of work for a year or more or be expected to be out of work for a year or more. On top of that Social Security will not pay you for the first six months of your disability. I am also frequently asked in e-mails how can anyone apply for SSDI benefits when it is possible they may have no money coming in for a minimum of 3 to 6 months and possibly as long as 1 to 2 years if they win at all. I don't have a real good answer for this, which is why Social Security disability benefits should be your last resort. If you have no choice but to apply, because you truly cannot work then you may have to live off your savings if you are lucky enough to have any. Some states have state temporary disability which can pay you short-term disability usually from 1 to 6 months. In some cases, if you have no income or resources you may have to apply for welfare. If you have an insurance plan through your company that you work for you can hopefully get these benefits. Many people have to rely on the support of family members or friends in this difficult time. The goal of this article is to make you aware before you take that jump, that it could be a difficult and long journey and you have to be prepared for possibly not having any income or at least significantly less income than you were accustomed to. I doubt that you will find an article like this written by any other disability lawyer or non-attorney firm. Most websites on the Internet are looking to make money and try to make it appear that by hiring their particular company it will always be smooth sailing. One only has to look at Social Security's own statistics on how long a claim takes at each stage of the process and the denial rates to know that in many cases it takes a long time to get your SSDI benefits and some people lose. I hope I did not discourage those who truly cannot work and have no alternative but to apply for these benefits, but if you are prepared for what lies ahead you will be better able to handle whatever is thrown your way. Besides, I do believe if you are truly unable to work you will win your claim at some point in the process, so if you can't work you have no choice but to hang in there until you win.

A new page on my Social Security disability website will be exclusively for press releases from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Quite frequently, SSA will release statements about relevant issues pertaining to Social Security. Many of these press releases are directly relevant to those trying to get Social Security Disability or those who already have Social Security Disability or retirement benefits. I will not include every press release, but I will try and include those press releases which I feel are relevant and may be of interest to the readers of my website. You will find this new page in the navigation bar on my homepage and it will be called SSA press release. If you have any interest in keeping up-to-date with the latest news from the Social Security Administration about Social Security disability and related topics check back with this page frequently. These press releases frequently give insight into how SSA plans to tackle particular problems within the system. They also provide interesting statistics on the budget, new hirings and the opening of the new SSA offices. This page is not for everybody, but for those who like to get the big picture and follow how Social Security works and how their money is being spent to solve problems within the Social Security Administration system. This new page will be added within the next day or two.

Many people wonder if they need a lawyer for their Social Security Disability application. You don't need a lawyer to apply for SSDI or SSI benefits, but you may want one. I can't tell you how many times I have heard two things in particular in my e-mails that I find somewhat disturbing. The first is that, no one wins at application. This is not true, in fact a good number of people do win their Social Security disability claims after they apply. However, this has somehow become a widely held belief. Many claims lose at application probably because in part due to this belief.  If you believe you can't win at application then chances are you will not put very much effort into trying to win.  If you are disabled and have a lawyer, or did your homework researching Social Security Disability and therefore made sure all of your evidence was into Social Security which includes opinion evidence from your doctors, then there is no reason you can't win at this stage of the process. The second thing, I frequently hear, is from people who want an attorney to help them with their application and they were told by the lawyer to apply and when they get denied to call the lawyer back. I think this unwillingness of some SSDI and SSI lawyers to take claims at application feeds the belief that no one can win when they first apply. There may be different reasons why some disability lawyers do not take cases at application, but it is not because it is impossible to win at this stage. There is good reason to want a lawyer and to have a lawyer for your SSDI or SSI application. All you have to do is look at the application itself and the questions that are asked and I can almost guarantee you will have some questions about what the questions are asking and how you should answer them. A good Social Security disability lawyer is not going to be able to fill out your application without the clients input, but they can explain what certain questions mean and can help the client answer questions that they may be unsure of how to answer. Lawyers who take disability cases at application will prepare your case as if it was at any other stage in the process to make sure that you have the best possible chance to win. If you wait until after you receive a denial at application to get a lawyer for your SSD claim then you have wasted an opportunity to win and it may be months and in some states (if you are in a state that does not have reconsideration) a year or two before you get your next decision.  Also, Social Security Disability lawyers are paid based on past due benefits, so if you win at application with an attorney chances are it will be quite a bit cheaper than if you win with a lawyer at reconsideration or hearing.  If nothing else take your Social Security Disability Application seriously and research what you need to win and/or get a lawyer to help you win.