The Retirement, Survivors and Disability Insurance (RSDI) is a program managed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) which aims to provide monthly financial support to people who have lost their income due to retirement or disability.
RSDI started in 1935 and it focused on helping retirees and survivors of a deceased worker. The program expanded in 1956 and disabled workers were included in the coverage, as long as they meet the requirements set by SSA.
For you to become eligible for RSDI, you must have the following:
1. A medical condition that prevents you from working.
2. Your condition must be serious enough that it will last for at least one year.
3. You also need to prove that you cannot do your previous job or any type of work, unless you are more than 50 years old.
4. You must be insured based on the rules set by SSA. This is through working in a covered employment and paying your monthly contributions to gain the required number of credits.
At present, RSDI covers relatively 96% of the occupations in the country. In order to finance the program, workers are required to pay their Social Security taxes. This is through the passage of two laws: the Federal Insurance Contribution Act and the Self-Employment Contributions Act
Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA)
• FICA is a law that requires a deduction from paychecks and income that goes to the Social Security program and Medicare. Employees and employers must share the FICA payments.
• FICA specifies a maximum allocation for Social Security while there is no maximum allotment for Medicare. The contributor’s FICA payment will not increase the Social Security portion once the maximum was achieved. The contribution however will increase the Medicare.
• FICA payment depends on the income of the contributor. The higher the income, the higher the FICA payment will be.
Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA)
• SECA of 1954 is a tax law which requires the owners of small business such as sole proprietorship, partnerships and S corporations to pay a tax of 15.3 percent of their net income from self-employment. This will cover the costs of their own Social Security, Medicare and Old Age Survivors and Disability insurance.
• Workers who are employed by another person or by a company only need to pay half of this amount, which is withdrawn from their paychecks, and their employer will pay the other half.
• SECA compels self-employed persons to pay the employer and the employee portions of the FICA. To make this situation fair and reasonable, small business owners subject to SECA are permitted to subtract half of their SECA tax amount on their own federal tax returns.
• SECA taxes are computed based on net earnings from self-employment. This net earnings are gross income drawn from business activities minus the expenses earned in the course of doing business
Filing for RSDI
There are three ways of filing your RSDI claim:
1. You can call the SSA phone number at 1-800-772-1213
2. You can also visit their website: http://www.ssa.gov.
3. file your petition personally at the SSA Office or to the nearest local office of SSA
To help you with retirement benefits and related issues, consult with our experienced social security lawyers. Visit our website at http://www.socialsecuritylawattorney.com/ and avail of our free case analysis.
This article has been accessed 3 times since 2008-11-20.
