How much will my Social Security Disability Benefits be?

One of the first concepts they teach you in law school is that there are rarely simple, straight forward answers in law and the answer to most questions is “it depends”. Social Security Disability is no different. Clients want to know (very understandably) how much money they will receive each month after they are approved. Often times bills are piling up because they cannot work, or perhaps they are trying to budget their future with Social Security Disability becoming their main source of income. Whatever the case, the truthful answer is truly “it depends”.

Social Security has a very in depth formula for calculating how much an individual will receive each month. Social Security considers an applicant’s prior income and current assets among many other things. Social Security does report that at the beginning of 2015, the average monthly Social Security Disability benefit was $1,165. SSI claims are often on the lower end of the spectrum while SSDI claims are usually a little higher. Personally, I have seen monthly payments as low as a few hundred dollars and others nearing $2,000 a month. As I said before, it just depends. Also keep in mind, your Social Security Disability attorney does not get any of those future payments.