Can you qualify for disability if you have a pension (not old enough to collect it yet) from a former job?

To your primary question:

A pension does NOT effect eligibility or the amount of social security disability payments. Social security disability has nothing to do with financial status.

However, you also mention that you don't *think* you have enough credit to qualify for disability. This is a problem if true. However, the amount of credits is not high to meet the qualification.

To give you an idea -- you typically need 40 total credits,.. 20 of such credits which have been earned within the last 10 years, ending with the year you become disabled. However, the younger you are -- you can qualify with less credits.

Those under age 24 -- can qualify if you have 6 credits earned in the 3-year period ending when your disability starts.

Between age 24-31 -- you can qualify if you have credit for working half the time between age 21 and the time you become disabled. For example, if you become disabled at age 27, you would need credit for 3 years of work (12 credits) out of the past 6 years (between ages 21 and 27).

Age 31 and older you will need the following:

Age 31 - 42 -- 20 Credits are needed. (Again, 10 credits needed in prior 10 years).

Age 44 = 22 Credits

Age 46 = 24 Credits

Age 48 = 26 Credits

Age 50 = 28 Credits

Age 52 = 30 Credits

Age 54 = 32 Credits

Age 56 = 34 Credits

Age 58 = 36 Credits

Age 60 = 38 Credits

and

Age 62 or older = 40 Credits.

To earn a credit you need to earn $1,160 (after deductions).

You can earn a maximum of 4 credits per year (no matter if you make a small amount of income or a million dollars a year).

Thus, $1,160 x 4 credits = $4,640 in adjusted earnings to earn the maximum (4) credits for the fiscal year.

Many people can meet the criteria for such low income to have the credits for obvious reasons of the low income figure needed.

So you may have more credits than you realize... and your age comes into account, as I pointed out.

You will need to be declared disabled by a medical doctor and then will have to go through the application process.

I would log into www.ssa.gov -- and you can immediately find out your current status of credits (not counting current year).

Good luck,

I normally notion you acquired a incapacity pension considering you could not work sufficient to get sales at your prior degree. I seem at Ron Paul's file (would not even take part in the lucrative congressional pension program, certainly not voted for a Congressional pay elevate -even before they had been made 'automated', returns a section of his budget to the treasury each year, became down a full scholarship his son had won given that he might pay for tuition, to leave it for someone who needed it, grew to become down matching cash for his crusade as 'stolen cash') and i really do marvel why the GOP has McCain as a candidate. I have an understanding of Obama simplest paid off his below market pupil loans last yr, however you'll anticipate that kind of factor from an entitlement centered Dem. Not so much from a principled Republican. Is Ron Paul fairly the one one left? How depressing.