and they take taxes and Social Security

out of your paycheck that you are paying

really for two different things you’re

paying for the retirement benefits that

we expect to get when we hit whatever 65

or 70 but you’re also putting money into

a fund that’s essentially disability

insurance and that’s what Social

Security Disability is or SSDI as it’s

called and that provides benefits

um in particularly social security

monthly type checks for people who

suffer a wide range of injuries when we

look at Social Security cases and just

the way Social Security does they sort

of fall into two buckets social security

has a lengthy list and you can actually

see it online on their website of all of

the types of medical conditions that if

people have them that if they’ve paid

enough into the system and that you know

you’ve worked long enough that you can

receive if you prove to Social Security

the disability the wage loss benefits

they are every type of injury from

psychological to Orthopedic to

neurologic to cancers to asthma you name

it social security has created

um what we call standards or regulations

relating to those but a lot of people

and the majority of people who seek

those benefits don’t fit into that

bucket they fit into the other area

where Social Security looks to see how

old are you

um what’s your ability to work in terms

of how heavy a work can you do can you

do light work medium sedentary Etc

what’s your education and then they

Analyze That and based on your age and

all of those factors you can qualify for

disability benefits so it’s a lengthy

list of conditions that can qualify you

for benefits as well as sort of the more

general area where most people fall but

the other part that people don’t realize

because a lot of people say oh I don’t

need those benefits or whatever is well

first you’ve paid for them so like any

other insurance that you buy if you pay

for it and you have a claim you should

take advantage second if you get hurt

and are on or you’re met or your health

just deteriorates and let’s say you’re

50 years old and you can’t work anymore

well if you don’t work for the next 15

years your Social Security old age

benefit is going to shrink till almost

nothing but if you get this ability uh

coverage you’re found to be disabled

your benefit stays stable all of that

time and you don’t get penalized when

you turn 65 or 67 or whatever age

because you didn’t pay in for those 15

years it’s like those 15 years disappear

plus once you’re disabled for two years

you also qualify for Medicare so you get

medical insurance and there is some

premium toward it but still you’re

getting medical insurance that’s

obviously particularly critical for

people who have disabilities so Social

Security covers a wide range of

conditions most people have no idea just

how broad and from my first job right

out of law school till now so many many

years we’ve been helping people get

those benefits and they’re what you paid

for every week out of your paycheck