I am 64, Stage 4 kidney cancer, married with 3 dependent children. My wife has MS and works forr a hi tech company making a substantial income although her health is failing and she will not be working soon.

I was told by ss that I am not eligible for disability benefits because I haven’t worked since about 1998. Prior to that I worked steadily in hi tech for 20 years making good income. I left hi tech to go to art school and graduated in 2002 where I worked as an adjunct professor at a college for a year before starting my art career. I did well at first, not makin much money but getting favorable press and showing internationally as well as around the country.

But in 2003 my wife became pregnant and I slackened my pace in art to take care of baby twin girls. My low income in art dropped substantially and I reported a minor loss each year in the art business.

I have applied for early ss benefits due to the terminal nature of my illness, but would have preferred collecting disability income. Is there any way that I can become eligible?

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear about your illness. In order to potentially qualify for Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits, you must meet the insured status requirement. To be insured, you must have earned at least 20 quarters of Social Security coverage within the 40 quarter period leading up to the onset of your disability. Basically, that means that if you became disabled today, you would need to have worked and paid into Social Security for at least 5 of the last 10 years.

If you stopped working and last earned Social Security credits in 1998, your insured status for SSDI benefits likely would have expired around 2003. You could still apply for SSDI benefits, but you'd need to establish that your condition became disabling at some point prior to when your insured status ended.

If you haven't already done so, you and your wife may want to strongly consider using our software to determine your best strategy for claiming your Social Security benefits.

Best, Jerry