Imagine you’ve developed a serious illness or disability, you can no longer hold down a job and you can’t make financial ends meet. This is a terrible and difficult situation because you may need to rely on others for your financial support — if you’re lucky enough to have other people in your life who are willing to help like this. Fortunately, if you’re facing a situation like this, you might be able to qualify for helpful government assistance through the U.S. Social Security Disability benefits program.

However, just because you apply for benefits and have a serious medical condition does not always mean you’ll receive immediate approval for financial assistance from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Here are two reasons why applicants could be denied:

They haven’t worked and paid into the system for long enough

Individuals need to have worked for a minimum period of time while paying into the Social Security Disability system in order to qualify for benefits. The SSA will use your age and how many years you’ve worked to determine how much you can receive in benefits. The more you’ve worked and paid into the system recently, the better chances you’ll have of approval.

You are earning too much money

Many individuals have sources of income beyond what they earn working. If you’re bringing income in through other sources that exceeds $1,090 per month (unless you’re blind, in which case the limit is $1,820 monthly), you probably won’t qualify for Social Security Disability benefits.

Are you ready to apply for Social Security Disability benefits in a way that maximizes your chances of approval? Have you been denied benefits and don’t know what to do? The experienced Social Security Disability benefits staff at our law office can help you sort out the legal aspects of obtaining these essential government benefits.