Free SSDI Tool
Work Credits & Date Last Insured Check
Are you insured for SSDI? Most people don't know — and most sites don't explain it.
A 90-second estimate of your work credits and Date Last Insured (DLI), based on what you tell us.
What This Tool Does
This tool helps you understand:
Roughly how many work credits you may have
An estimate of your Date Last Insured (DLI)
Whether your disability onset appears to fall before or after your DLI
What This Tool Does Not Do
This tool:
- Does not look up your official SSA earnings record
- Does not determine insured status — only SSA does
- Does not ask for your SSN or earnings amounts
The only place to confirm your credits and DLI is your my Social Security account.
~90 seconds
No SSN, no earnings
No account needed
This is an educational estimate, not an SSA determination. SSA rules can change.
SSDI questions, answered
You generally qualify if you have worked long enough to earn the right number of work credits, paid Social Security taxes, and have a medical condition that prevents you from working at a substantial level for at least twelve months. Most adults need 40 credits, with 20 earned in the last ten years.
SSDI is based on your work history and Social Security taxes you paid. SSI is a needs-based program for people with very limited income and assets, no work history required. Some people qualify for both. They have different payment amounts, health coverage, and rules.
SSDI payments are based on your lifetime earnings, not your disability. The average benefit is around $1,500 a month, with a maximum near $3,800. Our free SSDI estimator uses Social Security's formula to give you a personal estimate based on your work history.
About two-thirds of initial SSDI claims are denied, usually for missing medical evidence, gaps in treatment, doing too much work activity, or failing to follow prescribed treatment without a good reason. Most people who keep going and request a hearing are eventually approved.
Substantial Gainful Activity, or SGA, is the income limit Social Security uses to decide if you are working too much to qualify. In 2025 the SGA limit is $1,620 a month for non-blind applicants. Earning above SGA almost always leads to a denial. Our SGA checker shows you exactly where you stand.
Date Last Insured, or DLI, is the last date you have enough recent work credits to qualify for SSDI. If your disability started before your DLI, you can still qualify even if you apply later. If it started after, you do not qualify for SSDI no matter how disabling the condition is.
Initial decisions average three to six months. Reconsideration takes another three to five months. A hearing before an Administrative Law Judge often takes one to two years from request. Appeals can stretch the full timeline past three years, which is why strong initial evidence matters so much.
Most people do not need a lawyer for the initial application. At the hearing level, representation roughly doubles approval rates. Disability attorneys work on contingency, meaning they only get paid if you win. The fee is capped by federal law at 25% of back pay, up to a set maximum.