Oh and another point? Social Security & Disability works almost exactly like Optional Disability Insurance you can purchase thru your EMPLOYER, if they provide that option. Some employers will even pay a portion of the premiums, or provide a small basic insurance but also giving you the option to purchase additional insurance at your own expense. If your employer doesn't provide insurance options, you are free to purchase thru private companies such as AFLAC, or most any insurance company. Either way, you still have to pay into it for a certain amount of time before receiving payments from it.
You have to work for the company for so many years and pay into or purchase said insurance for a certain amount of time before you are eligible to receive any payments back from it in the case of becoming disabled for any reason. Same rules apply with Social Security.....you have to work for a minimum number of 'hours' that usually translates into years, before you are either eligible for retirement payments at full retirement age....or you become disabled before full retirement age and unable to work due to disability that is expected to last more than 12 months or result in death.
They all calculate payments by how much you've paid into it vs how old you are at the time of claim and how many years you are expected to draw from it,....this determines how much you receive each month. If you've only worked & paid into it from a minimum wage job for say 5 years, you are now 30 years old at time of disability and expected to live & draw from it another 45 years..........you'll be lucky to get $100 a month. If you earned more money and/or paid into it longer, and the same age.......you'd get more. Or if you were older say 50, making minimum wage for 35years.....you'd receive more. Change up any of those factors and it will change up the benefit amount.
Either way, the only differences between private insurance and Social Security is this..........private insurance is usually optional and is handled by a private company and subject to their rules. Social Security is mandatory and handled by the government and their rules.
If you haven't worked or worked enough to qualify for those benefits (private or SS), then you may be eligible for SSI (Supplemental Security Income) &/or welfare and those are publically funded government entitlement programs......NOT the same thing.
Anyone that has worked for any number of years knows these things.....so it's rather telling when they pass judgement without the facts.
