WTVS News

Archive for November, 2011

Social Security benefits are designed to supplement your income if you become disabled. You can apply for two types of disability benefits depending on your needs. But even if you follow all the rules and complete every form, you can still receive a denial. You may end up getting more headaches than help.

SSD

You qualify for SSD, or Social Security Disability, if you worked during your life-time and earned income from a place of employment or from self-employment. You must pay into Social Security to receive this benefit. The federal government has specific guidelines regarding the benefit.

Each year you work, you earn up to four credits toward your SS benefits. The Social Security Administration calculates your earned credits by your yearly income. The amount of your disability benefit depends on your age and how long you worked.

If you do not pay or work enough to qualify for SSD, the social security office can deny you. The government can deny you if it feels that you can work at some point in the future, or do not have a condition that affects your ability to work.

SSI

You can apply for your Supplemental Security Income if you become disabled from a medical condition or from serving in the military. If you happen to be a veteran with a disabling injury, you may qualify for benefits from the Veteran’s Administration and the Social Security Administration.

SSI applies to you if your doctor considers you unable to work because of a debilitating medical condition, disease or cancer. The headache arises when you need to prove to the administration that you are disabled and qualify for your benefits. You may spend a great deal of time seeing the administration’s doctors, completing paperwork and calling the Social Security office during the process.

Getting Help

It can take a year or more to receive an answer about your case. If the Social Security Administration does deny your claim, you can obtain help from pro-bono lawyers and advocates who specialize in Social Security claim cases. They can assist you with filing an appeal but you must do so within 60 days of your initial denial.

Your advocates can help you during the appeal hearing. If you still receive a disability denial, make another appeal to the Appeals Council. Keep in mind that the council can uphold the hearing’s decision and refuse this claim as well.

The present economic climate across the country is not healthy.  When the economy is on a dip and going down, and people are not buying houses, the market often pushes mortgage interest rates down.  This gives homeowners with mortgages who are playing higher interest rates the opportunity to refinance and take advantage of low interest rates.

However, it’s not always in every home owner’s best interest to refinance.  There are certain circumstances where refinancing may end up costing more than staying put.  Examples would be if the owner has a high level of debt or a second mortgage or if they do not plan to stay for long in their current home.

Your credit score should be better than when you first mortgage was taken out.  Your credit score influences the interest rate and if it is not healthy because you ran up debt after buying the house then it may not be worthwhile refinancing.

If you are considering refinancing then you should find out your current level of equity.  Private mortgage insurance will kick in if you are borrowing more than eighty percent of the homes value.  Also if your home is close to being paid off then you are basically paying off the principal and so a lower interest rate will not change things a great deal.

The rule of thumb is that you should be planning to live in the property for five years or more to make refinancing worth it.  The costs involved in refinancing make it prohibitive if you are going to be moving before that time.

If you are considering refinancing your home it is always a good idea to read up on the latest information and also consult with a refinancing expert.