I have a disabled son who currently works. I want to make sure that his earning don't go over the allowable SGA amount but i'm confused how to calculate his earnings. Do I calculate actual pay received per pay dates within any monthly period (1st through end of month) or do I go by what he would earn for days worked during a monthly period?

Hi. Substantial gainful activity (SGA) is ideally judged based on the amount that a person earns in a month, not the amount that they're paid. However, it's often difficult for Social Security to get accurate evidence of a person's monthly earnings. As a result, the Bipartisan Budget Act that was passed by Congress in 2015 allows Social Security to assume that earnings were earned in the month that they were paid (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0410505005#c).

Therefore, if there are any months that your son will be paid more than the SGA limit then you'll want to keep copies of his pay slips so that you can prove to Social Security how much your son actually earned in those months. By the way, the monthly SGA level in 2022 is $1350, and in 2023 it will go up to $1470.

Best, Jerry