You might hear the term “Date Last Insured” or its acronym “DLI” being used when attorneys and the Social Security Administration (SSA) discuss an individual’s eligibility for disability benefits. This is the last date a disability is covered by Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB). The disability must be present (but not necessarily diagnosed) on or before that date. That means you can still be eligible for DIB even if you apply years after your DLI has passed. For example, the author of this article has a DLI of June 30, 2016.
The calculation the SSA uses to determine an individual’s DLI involves whether the individual has recently paid enough into Social Security through FICA or Social Security self-employment taxes. As the “I” in its name implies, DIB is similar to a private disability insurance policy and our FICA and Social Security self-employment taxes are similar to the monthly payments made to maintain an insurance policy. The SSA uses “Quarters of Coverage” (QC or more commonly known as “Social Security credits,” “work credits,” and “credits”) as the method to determine whether the individual has paid enough into Social Security.
An individual earns a credit when the individual’s annual earnings on reach an amount set by the statutes governing Social Security. The required amount of earnings is determined using a formula that compares the current average wage index against the average wage index in 1978 and adjusts the required amount accordingly. $1,130 in annual earnings is the minimum amount to earn a credit in 2012. The SSA keeps a historical table that shows the amount of earnings needed from 1978 to the present on its website. An individual can earn up to four (4) credits in a single year; thus, an individual who earns $4,520 in 2012 will earn four credits as will an individual who earns $10,000, $50,000, or even $250,000 in 2012.
The number of credits an individual has earned in the last ten years and how many credits an individual has earned total in his or her lifetime are both important to determine whether the individual is eligible for DIB. For individuals at least 31 years old, 20 credits must have been earned in the past ten years; individuals under the age of 31 require fewer credits to qualify. Also, individuals over the age of 42 need to have earned more than 20 credits over their lifetime, but 20 of those credits must have been earned in the past 10 years – the SSA has a table on its website that explains how many credits an individual has earned in his or her lifetime to qualify for DIB.
