Hello Jerry--thank you for answering my questions.

I am still trying to figure out where I stand with my TWP.

It is all vey confusing. For me esp --I've had a brain injury.
I called my local Social Security office today. I know I submitted all my pay stubs for all the times
I DID work--but they seem to have lost them all. I am not sure how that is possible.
So now I have to go back and get them all from my former part-time season jobs. (again)

They DID tell me that they THINK I only have one (1) month that is counting towards my TWP.
But it is not clear without having the stubs from the other work.

In 2014 --I worked earning $2636.00 over a few months. But it seems one of those months was over the $770.00 allowed--or rather the amount that is the ceiling that they use to determine if I earned enough to be beyond my Trial Work Period. (for that one month)

**They think it is only one month so far--and so do I--but it is hard to know or prove to them without these stubs and I can't convince them that I DID turn them in to them. They say they dont have them. I am not sure how it is that I cannot trust that they did not keep these stubs on file.

This makes me feel nervous about it all--because I recall going to a lot of work to submit them.

This was for the year 2015:
I worked in a Tax Office--so I know I did not work more than 4 months--if that--because my work ended on April 15th. They say my earnings for 2015 were: $1545.91

And the Amount one could earn for 2015 per month before it triggered a TWP month was $780.00
So I am assuming that my stubs will show that I did not have any months over $780 a month.

But again it bothers me that they did not keep my records on file.

And the same is true for some election year work I did in 2016--seasonal work that they said I earned $997.82

I asked the former employer to send me my former paystubs--but they looked up the stubs and found amounts that do not agree with the amount that Social Security shows I earned: I can only guess that the difference is due to some money the work owed me for mileage and travel/gas I had to spend for the job.
It reimbursed me for the amount I spent out of my own pocket.

How do I explain that? Esp if it looks like it was "pay."?
The pay stubs say I had two pay stubs 1) 68.26 2) $784.84
Total pay for the year (according to the SS office was $997.82) The $144.72 was for the gas and the mileage on my car. I had to pay for some toll fees to I believe--so they reimbursed me for these.
It was not really pay as much as paying me back.

I would hate to have it added on to the second check as income--when it was not "earned" and then have it trigger a TWP month--when it was not really pay that put my stub over the $810.00 allowed amount for a month in 2016.

Which brings me to a question I have about erasing TWP months once I have started a TWP--but it has not worked out. How long do I have to wait before I can start fresh again? (with 9 more months?)

And how many fresh starts --or Do-Overs does someone get?

I think I understand now --that I can make as much as I want on TWP--this is why I was confused. I knew I had to be careful about staying within a certain earnings amount if I worked and the work was not serious work--I might lose my benefits if it was not going to pan out. Most of my trial work has been very part-time or seasonal. It is not stable or good pay. And the jobs are not aware of my disabilities--many have not been friendly to me when I need extra help or assistance--they lose their patience. They will not rehire me--so if I lose the work--and my benefits (because I make too much money and then lost the job--it isn't a good situation for me)

2014 was four years ago --I realize the 60 months or five years is a fresh start for some aspects of the TWP.
When does it happen? From the date of the last day you worked? Or the year you last worked?

I am guessing my possible fresh start would happen in 2019? Correct? I think I get nine new TWP months.
I can earn as much as I want in those months--but if I earn over that amount that SS uses to trigger a TWP work month--I will trigger a month onto my record --and their books--that I have worked and lose one or more months of my Trial Work Period.

Once I lose all my nine months--I will be on Substantial Gainful Activity--and then I cannot earn more than the current years amount--which is $1180.00 for 2018.

If I DO EARN $1180 gross in any month--than I will trigger a loss of my SS benefits. Correct?

How many months of working --and earning over $1180-- before I lose all of my Social Security and my benefits?

What will happen to my Medicare?
It is my only insurance.

I have one more question.

I am now 53--soon to be 54--If I am working and they are still taking out SS from my part-time paychecks
Shouldn't this count towards increasing my Social Security income?

In other words--my income now is not very much. How can I increase my SS income if I am disabled and working part-time? Is it possible if I am officially ON SS? I only get $1105 a month from SS--after some of the benefits are taken out. It is not a lot of money.

I have a million more questions--but I am just trying to get my TWP in order now. I appreciate any advice and help you can give or share.

Thank you so much

Hi,

The 60-month timeframe in which you can potentially complete your 9-month trial work period (TWP) is best described as a rolling period. For example, say January 2014 is your initial month of Social Security disability (SSDI) entitlement. Your first 60-month TWP timeframe would be from January 2014 through December 2018. If you don't complete 9 TWP months during that timespan, then the next 60 month period considered starts February 2014 and ends January 2019. And so on. Once you do complete 9 TWP months within any 60 month period, though, you don't get another TWP.

Once your TWP is completed, if you subsequently earn more than the substantial gainful activity (SGA) amount (currently $1180) in even 1 month you risk having Social Security determining that your period of disability has ceased. However, a period of SGA that lasts less than 6 months can be judged by Social Security to be an unsuccessful work attempt (UWA) under certain circumstances (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0425501400).

Once your period of disability is determined to cease, your benefits could terminate as soon as 3 months after the month of cessation. In some cases, though, you get an extended period of eligibility (EPE) that can last up to 3 years after the month of cessation. During an EPE, benefits can be reinstated for any non-SGA months. However, the start of the 3 year EPE depends on when your TWP is completed in relation to when you start performing SGA. I don't have time to fully explain the EPE, nor do you need to worry about it unless and until you complete your TWP and perform SGA.

Medicare does not necessarily end when your SSDI terminates. If the reason for the termination is due to work and earnings (i.e. SGA) as opposed to medical improvement, then Medicare eligibility can continue for up to 7 years and 9 months after completion of your TWP (https://www.ssa.gov/redbook/eng/ssdi-only-employment-supports.htm).

What I would advise you do is try to gather all of the monthly earnings proof that you can obtain and hang onto it indefinitely in case Social Security asks for it. That way you'll have it in case questions arise in the future. You can submit copies to Social Security, but don't rely on them to keep or properly document the records.

The gas and mileage reimbursement you mentioned probably shouldn't count as earnings, but since your employer apparently withheld Social Security taxes on that part of your earnings Social Security will likely count it for TWP purposes. You can contest this if it becomes a material issue, but I don't know whether or not you'll be successful in doing so.

Your continued earnings could potentially increase your SSDI rate, but only if you earn more in a calendar year than the amount of wage-indexed earnings that you were credited with in one or more of the years previously used in calculating your SSDI rate. The number of earnings years used to compute a person's SSDI rate depends on their age at the time they became disabled. For example, if you became disabled at age 48 Social Security would use your highest 21 years of wage-indexed earnings to compute your SSDI rate. If you were younger than that they'd use fewer years, and if you were older than that they'd use more years.

Best, Jerry