Social Security Disability Qualifications for Over Age 50

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Special Rules May Apply to You

You’ve worked for years, probably most of your life. Now that you’re over age 50, things have changed. Your health problems make it impossible for you to keep holding a job.

You never thought you’d be in this situation. Each month, you wonder if you can pay the bills. Now you’re worried about what the future holds.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Social Security Disability benefits could be the answer—providing monthly checks and improving your daily life.

You may have already applied for benefits and received a denial. Don’t give up! If you’re over age 50, special Social Security Disability qualifications could make it easier for you to appeal your denial and win benefits.

Once you turn 50, Social Security looks at your claim in a different way.

At the Becker Law Office, we’ve turned thousands of disability denials into approvals in Madison, Wausau and across Wisconsin. We know how to apply the special rules for people over 50.

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The 3 Basic Qualifications to Win Social Security Disability

No matter your age, you have to prove three things to persuade Social Security to award you benefits:

  1. You can’t do your most recent kinds of work because of your severe health problems.
  2. Your health issues also keep you from switching to another type of work for which you’re qualified.
  3. Your health problems will last a year or more, or could be life-threatening.

The bottom line for winning disability benefits is proving that you can’t work at all because of bad health. The difference when you turn 50 is that Social Security gives more weight to your age and limited ability to pursue new work, along with your medical issues, as factors that may keep you from working.

The lawyers at the Becker Law Office don’t charge anything for you to get an evaluation of your particular circumstances.

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How to Apply the Special Qualifications for Over Age 50

At age 50 and older, Social Security considers it more difficult for you to switch jobs due to your age. You no longer have to prove that you can’t do any job at all. You only need to show that you can’t do your most recent jobs or jobs requiring the same skills.

Social Security divides disability applicants into three groups:

Age 18-49 (“Younger Person”): In this age range, you must show that your health problems keep you from doing your most recent kinds of work—or adapting to any other type of work.

Age 50-54 (“Closely Approaching Advanced Age”): Social Security requires you to show that you can no longer do any of your last 15 years of jobs, and that skills you gained in those jobs cannot transfer to other work. You will not need to prove that you can’t switch to any other type of work available in the economy.

Age 55 & Up (“Person of Advanced Age”): Once you reach this age range, Social Security still looks at your most recent years of work and possible transferable skills but becomes even less stringent about making you prove you can’t work in any capacity due to your health issues.

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You Earned the Right to Disability Benefits

Disability benefits are not a handout. When you were working, you paid into Social Security. It was deducted from every paycheck.

These are benefits you earned. But that doesn’t mean Social Security makes them easy to get. People get denied all the time and need to appeal for a full chance at winning benefits.

A Becker Law Office attorney can help you make sure you get credit for your over 50 status. It could mean the difference between receiving benefits, or another denial.

Disability law is all we do.

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Get your free consultation from one of our Social Security Disability attorneys.

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