Self Employment and Getting Paid "Under the Table" and "Off the Books"

In the new economy more and more of us are self-employed. For some it is a part-time gig to supplement their main job and for others it is their main source of income. The WARNING here is straight-forward and up front. If you get hurt or sick and can't work anymore or hardly at all, if you don't have enough "on the books" and "over the table" income and/or reported NET PROFIT from self-employment income, you will qualify for NOTHING OR NEXT TO NOTHING. That is zero dollars a month in Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or a lousy $700 a month in Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI). You want to qualify for SSDI because on average people get about 500 or 600 more a month than SSI. HOWEVER if you did not report enough income in the past twenty years you won't. You also might not even qualify for the SSI $700 a month depending on your total household income. This is because you will not have accrued enough work credits. And to potentially make things worse if you're not 62 yet you can't even get early retirement. This happens to people. I've seen it.

Like with all my blog entries there's more but the first step in making sure this doesn't happen to you is to make sure you are getting and seeing your annual social security earnings statement. You can get it free online at mysocialsecurity.gov. It's fairly straightforward but if you want to be sure what you do and don't qualify and when go down to your local Social Security Field Office OR contact a local Social Security Disability Attorney. Most would be glad to discuss these issues with you at no charge.