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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a recent study on whether expanding Private Disability Insurance (PDI) benefits, through an employer, would result in savings to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Trust Fund. Current projections indicate that SSDI will be depleted to a point where it would only be able to cover about 80 percent… Read more »

Social Security taxes do not necessarily apply to all income earned. All self-employment income and wages that are covered by Social Security are taxed up to a certain amount, which is set by law. Since 1937 Social Security has set a maximum taxable earnings amount, which started at $3,000. Today the maximum taxable earnings amount… Read more »

In the middle of World War II President Franklin Roosevelt met with England’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill to discuss common principles the two countries shared, one of which included a call for social insurance. This was a secret meeting, but eventually the meeting led to the creation of the Atlantic Charter. The common principles the… Read more »

We always hear about the United States being a country of immigrants because ancestors from countries all around the world came to America for a new life. Despite the growing immigration debate the United States remains a country of immigrants and some of those immigrants speak English as a second language or don’t speak English… Read more »

Social Security has adopted a new rule that prohibits people convicted of certain crimes from serving as representative payees involving Social Security benefits after Congress passed a law similarly prohibiting certain people from serving as representative payees. In certain instances Social Security will choose a representative payee to manage the Social Security benefits of people… Read more »

The federal government filed a lawsuit in an attempt to recover more than $28,000 paid to a United States citizen in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits after he moved from New York to Puerto Rico. According to Social Security’s rules citizens can receive SSI benefits while living in the United States and even in the… Read more »

Adding $1.5 trillion to Social Security over the next 10 years might seem like a complex problem that would need teams of Social Security and financial experts to work on, but the solution is rather simple. Right now 90 percent of people pay Social Security taxes on all of their income, but 10 percent don’t…. Read more »

Many times Consultative Exams (CEs) are part of the Social Security disability process. These exams are setup by Social Security when it is determined there is not enough medical evidence available to determine whether a disability claimant meets the necessary rules for disability benefits. Below is more detail of how evidence is considered from these… Read more »

As we reported in a previous blog, the Social Security Administration has proposed a new rule that would allow the agency to determine whether a disability claimant can have an in-person hearing or a Video Teleconference (VTC) hearing without giving the claimant or a claimant’s representative a choice. The rule is not yet in place,… Read more »

A recent story posted by Marketplace shows just how valuable the contributions are made by undocumented workers, especially when it comes to Social Security. Although undocumented workers are not eligible to receive Social Security benefits, it doesn’t mean they don’t contribute to Social Security. Many undocumented workers pay Social Security taxes just like everyone else…. Read more »