IF I OWN MY OWN BUSINESS AND HAVE A DISABLING CONDITION THAT PREVENTS ME FROM TECHNICALLY "DOING WORK" WITHIN MY BUSINESS, AM I ELIGIBLE FOR RECEIVING SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY BENEFITS?

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Will Social Security Disability funds be gone sooner than expected?

Posted on May 26, 2009

Disabled Americans relying on the Social Security Administration for disability benefits have another reason to worry. The SSA trustees now estimate that the Social Security trust funds will run out by 2037. This is four years earlier than previously forecast, and would leave the SSA with only enough money to pay about 75 percent of benefits.

The change is largely the result of payroll tax revenues being unable to keep up with the program costs. Payroll tax revenues, which fund the Social Security programs, are expected to drop below program costs by 2016.

The deep economic recession is one reason for the projected changes. With the unemployment rate rising and millions of jobs being lost, there just isn’t as much payroll tax as there used to be.

Millions of Americans – and many New Yorkers – depend on federal disability benefits. The average monthly disability benefit paid out by SSA is $1,063.