Date of Last Insured (DLI)

Your Date of Last Insured (DLI) is important to know because of your disability onset date, or in other words the date you reported that you were disabled. That is, you were not able to maintain the amount for Substantial Gainful Activity or SGA anymore. (See my prior post on what SGA is). If you, in good faith, got your onset date wrong on your application, it is possible to amend it to the correct date. Your onset date must be before your DLI to qualify for benefits. In lieu, if the onset date is after your DLI you might qualify for SSI.

Your DLI is going to fall on the last day of a calendar quarter. You must have 20 of the past 40 quarters to be insured for benefits. I could post the chart and you would be able to count, but if there's been an unsteady work history in your past it would only serve frustrate you to no end to try to decipher it. The best way to find your DLI, is to call Social Security and ask them what your DLI is. Basically your work history, in the 10 years prior, or 40 quarters before your disability, must reflect that there are 20 quarters of work history for you to be insured for benefits.

So you may be wondering, “How am I ‘insured' what does that mean?” Before you get your paycheck, your Federal Insurance Contributions Act, or FICA, deductions are taken out of your paycheck. These monies are deposited into the Social Security program fund for retirement, disability payments, and survivor benefits for widows or child(ren) of a deceased parent. You pay into that fund over time and that is how your DLI is calculated when you are not able to earn the required SGA anymore for Social Security purposes. Monies allocated for Social Security Income (SSI) payments come directly from the Treasury. SSI monies are considered general revenue and are gained through your payment of income tax.

This blog is intended for information purposes only and does not establish legal representation or financial guidance.