Indiana residents may not all agree getting older is a good thing. Lets face it, as we age it seems to be a bit harder to bounce back from physical problems we encounter. As we age, we may also find it more difficult to find employment. Believe it or not, the Social Security Administration (SSA) believes it may be more difficult for older individuals to find suitable employment. Now, don’t be misled that the Social Security Administration (SSA) doesn’t look at various other factors when determining if your disability prevents you from working, but age is one very important factor they examine.
Age is just one of the factors considered in what is known as “the grid”. This is a table composed of various factors to help the SSA determine if your disability meets the requirements necessary to “grid out”, or be granted Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Other factors include education, the skill level of past employment, and whether you are able to do sedentary, light, medium, or heavy work. The age criteria is broken down into four categories:
- 18 – 44 years old considered young individuals
- 45 – 49 years old considered younger individuals
- 50 -54 years old considered approaching advanced age
- 55 years of age and older considered advanced age
While all of the above may seem difficult to understand, the simple truth is that those individuals over 50 years of age usually benefit from the grid scenario much more than those individuals younger than 50 years of age. Those individuals over 50 years of age with unskilled work experience that is not transferable combined with a limitation of sedentary work often find themselves on the favorable end of a Social Security disability decision. With that being said, your disabling condition is still an issue and all disability cases can have different facts.
Whether you are a young or an older individual, you can still win your disability claim if your disabling condition is severe enough to prevent you from working. Indianapolis Social Security Attorney Scott D. Lewis encourages you not to rely on the above information to determine if you will receive Social Security disability benefits.
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