Q: I need to get something from Social Security to verify my income. How can I do that?
A: We provide three types of income proof:
(1) A Benefit Verification Letter shows your monthly benefit amount. You can get it online at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount. It often is used as official proof of income to:
• Apply for a loan;
• Give to a landlord;
• Obtain housing assistance, or other state or local benefits;
• Verify Medicare coverage, or
• Verify retirement status, disability or age.
(2) An SSA-1099 shows your annual income for income tax purposes. We mail the SSA-1099 by Jan. 31 each year. You can request an SSA-1099 online, or call 800-772-1213 (TTY 800-325-0778) between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, or visit a local office. Go online to www.socialsecurity.gov to locate the office nearest you.
(3) An annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) notice is sent to all beneficiaries at the end of each year providing the amount of the monthly benefit for the following year.
Q: I may have an opportunity to work. Can you tell me what is a disability “trial work period?”
A: A trial work period is a work incentive that allows Social Security disability beneficiaries to test their ability to work without losing benefits.
People who receive Social Security disability benefits can work for at least nine months without losing benefits. During this trial work period, you can get full benefits no matter how much you earn, as long as you continue to have a severe disabling impairment and you report your work activity. The trial work period continues until you complete nine trial work months within a 60-month period.
Find more information about this and other work incentives in our publication Working While Disabled — How We Can Help. It is online at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10095.html.
Send questions to Robert Fenn, Social Security Administration, Second Floor, Federal Building, 2 S. Main St., Akron, OH 44308. Fax: 330-375-5616 or email: Robert.Fenn@ssa.gov.