NeuroTalk Support Groups - Fully Favorable decision

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- - Fully Favorable decision - now what? (https://www.neurotalk.org/social-security-disability/90098-favorable-decision.html)

The issue is that ssi is not supposed to be for getting ahead, which buying a house in the future would be, but just enough to scrimp by. Silly in that if you already owned a house, you can keep it, but this rather forces you into purchasing something before you are ready to.

Good luck with this

Yeah .. well I think I'm going to just buy a place when I get enough of my back pay and get myself a car .. and just start a new life. Now that I've had time to think about it this is the right thing to do. I can still spend time here with my family in the daytime a lot but I really do kinda want to have a place of my own and be able to just have a refuge so I can be by myself .. or even bring my sisters and family over to watch movies n the weekends and all that kind of stuff.

Yeah .. this isn't a bad thing et all. I thank yall for your input btw. I realize it would be greedy of me to try to save and save when my grandparents have been keeping me in treatment, keeping me fed, sheltered and let me drive their car .. etc and then I start trying to save a bunch of money? Wouldn't be right to the taxpayers or especially my caretakers. So .. I'm just gonna use this backpay to find a decent lil car and a decent lil home somewhere out away from the city and just start living again. It's about time. I want to do something with myself .. heh. Just wanna start living again. I havent had any kind of life for so long because of my schizotypal personality disorder .. but I'm determined to have a life of some kind soon now that I'm approved for disability. No it won't be a normal life per-say but at least it'll be more than what I do now .. heh. ^_^

This is gonna work out great. I'm so thankful for getting approved! I feel a sense of comfort knowing I will finally have money and insurance again. I'll be going from owning zip to having my own place own car own furniture etc etc. Thank GOD for making this happen. Now its just a matter of days or maybe a couple of weeks till I get my letter of benefits and finally finish this whole lonnng grueling process!Wooho!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jsh1284 (Post 524802)

Hello posters .. I'm here because there seems to be a lot of experience when it comes to disability matters here. More specifically though .. I was awarded a fully favorable decision at my hearing on May 29th! I got my letter describing exactly how they came to this decision and it says I will get SSDI and SSI benefits along with insurance benefits and all the other goodies. Well of course it's taken a while .. and I'm just wondering what's next. My lawyer was great but now that the hard part is over he doesn't seem to like calling me back anymore .. heh. So I know it's a 60 day waiting period until I get a letter describing exactly what I'm going to get paid .. and 20 of those days are up now .. so what can I expect in terms of when I'll finally start getting my benefits, my back-pay etc?

Also, I have a bigger question as well. I am looking at a LOT of back-pay. My date of onset goes back three years - so I'll get paid (ssdi) going back to THEN. Well, what has me worried though is the fact that I've discovered you can't have over $2000 dollars in assets if you want to keep your SSI. I don't want to just blow thousands of dollars. Furthermore, I don't even know how I could legally even DO that without having more than $2000 in assets accumulated FROM SPENDING the money... LOL. So what's the deal with that? How can I keep my money (I want to save it and buy a house with it down the road) .. and not lose my SSI benefits?

Thanks so much for your help in advance!
Steve H

Wish I could offer help but I'm a newbie..congrats, though, on your success and your back pay! Hope it all works out for you.

Kathleen

Just wondering if you received any pay yet. I was found fully favorable on June 24th. Also they are looking into if I qualified for SSI during this period. i sure hope so. We lived on my wife's income for over 3 years. I am also wondering when the payment 's will come.

Hoosier Daddy,

I just received my "Calculation" Letter (July 10th). And of course, I had to forward that to OPM since I have a pension. Oh, and I will receive my first payment on August 19th. But even so, OPM has to make some adjustments due to the WEP. But not as badly affected as I thought I might be. In any case, this pertains to federal employees.

Anyway, I know you all are speaking of SSI. But I wanted to throw this out there. Did you know that UP TO 85% of your backpay (SSDI) is taxable depending on your income? Found that out after talking to my tax preparer. Read IRS Publication 915 for more info. From what I gather most people who receive a LOT of backpay and have an income higher than $32,000 will spread the backpay over previous years tax returns back to your disability date. Ain't life grand? :rolleyes: Anyway, as I said, that pertains to SSDI.

Do they take the taxes out before you get the backpay, or do you have to pay it at the end of the year??

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kathi49 (Post 536767)

Hoosier Daddy,

I just received my "Calculation" Letter (July 10th). And of course, I had to forward that to OPM since I have a pension. Oh, and I will receive my first payment on August 19th. But even so, OPM has to make some adjustments due to the WEP. But not as badly affected as I thought I might be. In any case, this pertains to federal employees.

Anyway, I know you all are speaking of SSI. But I wanted to throw this out there. Did you know that UP TO 85% of your backpay (SSDI) is taxable depending on your income? Found that out after talking to my tax preparer. Read IRS Publication 915 for more info. From what I gather most people who receive a LOT of backpay and have an income higher than $32,000 will spread the backpay over previous years tax returns back to your disability date. Ain't life grand? :rolleyes: Anyway, as I said, that pertains to SSDI.

What is WEP and OPM???

Hoosier Daddy,

No, they do not...I asked that the other day. What most people do is to have it spread out (past returns) back to the date of your disability. So, in my case that is 4 years (from 2005 to present). Having said that you will also have to let SSA know how much you want withheld from your monthly check; 7, 10, 15 or 25%. They will send you the form or you can retrieve the form from the SSA website. I don't know of course, your financial situation but I would definitely talk with a tax preparer/CPA.

Abasaki,

OPM is Office of Personnel Management. WEP is Windfall Elimination Provision and applies to the folks who were under CSRS Offset. This is all in regards to federal employees...a whole different ballgame and language altogether. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jsh1284 (Post 525260)

Well, I just did some research on the SSA's site and it seems I have nine months to spend my money and then if I still have it after that period I will not get SSI benefits until I get rid of those resources.

I don't understand this. Seems like they would give you some leeway if you're trying to save back to buy your own home or something. I dunno .. maybe I need to just try to get a place now while the housing market is down. I could probably find something nice for cheap and get out on my own. Hmm ... something to think about. Still I would like to do that on my own terms and not be .. kinda pushed into it. Heh I am bipolar and all .. so I feel like I'm in a situation now. Not exactly a bad one to be in but I kinda feel pressured. Bleh ...

Hi there! First of all I am even more depressed now than before. I was told at the social security website that I would have my first check/ first back pay installment with in 2 weeks (I just got the notice I was approved) of course my atty said unless it goes to appeals. Nice, huh?! Anyway, my dad had his he just applied not long ago and was approved right away, he had it within 2 weeks of notice. Now I hear others are not. Ugh. Social security and the atty lied to me, I guess. I was expecting something by august now I find out it will be alot longer. ugh.

Anyway I was thinking couldn't you just have your grandparents open another account in their names and let you put your money in it? That way it would look like you spent it? Technically you would have. Then later on your grandparents could give it back to you when you need it. It is just an idea. Well good luck.

Thanks for your posting, from years past 2009 for you

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jsh1284 (Post 525423)

Well it's not so bad for me now that I think about it. I could save my backpay and get myself a nice lil trailer out away from the city .. and maybe buy a cheap car .. and I'd be set, really. I just wonder if I'm ready to live on my own. It's kinda scary to think of all the free time I'd have living alone like that. It's nice living with my family because I have everyone around and they can kinda keep me under control if I go off the deep end manic (thank GOD that hasnt happened in a long time) .. so I dunno. Maybe I could get a place and live there most of the time but still have a place to sleep here incase that DID happen so I can kinda have someone to keep an eye on me. I know I need it.

Still it sucks that SSI would limit someone like this. I understand why they'd do it but there should be like some clause in the deal where you could like open up a certain type of savings acct or something where you can save .. assuming you're in a position to do so. I mean I suppose I could buy a vault and keep cash in it but that would not only be illegal but dangerous. Grr! I guess the best thing to do for now is wait and see what I'll get exactly .. and then hopefully I can get in touch with my lawyer to see if there's a loophole in this whole thing that I can climb thru.

Anyways thanks for your replies.

I just wanna ask this again now that that's kinda cleared up. Once I get my letter showing how much they're gonna pay me and everything how long will it be until I like.. get my first check and then my first back-pay checks and everything? I really need this money ASAP. It's been so long and I've been letting important stuff go forever so I'm real anxious to get that first check .. heh .. if for no other reason than to know its FINALLY OVER! It's almost unreal that I'm almost finished with everything and my new life is about to start!

Hey Jsh1284, DavidinGa here, just got my favorable for my disability today in the mail. so i type in what next on fully favorable and you post and question came up. Thanks you helped me with questions and i didnt know about 9 monthes to use up back pay. I laughed when i saw you were going to get a double widetrailor , car laptop, braces and new glasses i can relate to all those things as i will be doing the same thing too, havent been to dentist since sept of 2008. Hope this finds yopu thriving Sincerely Bipolar Dave lol