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Disability Insurance Calculator

U.S. only tools

Social Security disability insurance pays a monthly benefit to workers disabled before full retirement age, and the number is not a mystery: it is the same primary insurance amount your retirement benefit is built from, on the same bend points. If you have worked and paid into Social Security, a disability before retirement age converts those credits into a benefit this page can estimate from the AIME on your statement.

Disability Insurance Calculator - Danfio

https://danfio.com/tools/disability-insurance-calculator/ - printed from this page

Currency: USD ($) - display only, nothing was converted

$

Average indexed monthly earnings on your Social Security statement. The benefit formula starts from this number.

$

The rent, food, utilities, medical and other costs disability income has to keep covering.

$

Any benefit from an employer group or individual long-term disability policy already in force.

Results update as you type. Nothing leaves your device.

Currency symbol

Symbol only - nothing is converted and no exchange rate is used. Figures quoted in the explanation text stay as the sources publish them.

Estimated SSDI monthly benefit

$2,025

Your primary insurance amount on an AIME of $4,000, from the 2026 bend points.

The benefit against the income need

Replaces your monthly income need (SSDI + private benefit)
57.9% SSDI plus any private long-term disability benefit, not SSDI alone.
Annual benefit
$24,300
Waiting period
5 months no payments for the first five full months
Medicare starts after
24 months of disability benefits

How the 2026 bend points build your benefit

BendEarnings appliedPercentBenefit piece
First $1,286 of AIME1,28690%$1,157
Next $6,463 up to $7,7492,71432%$868
Above $7,749015%$0

The three pieces add to the benefit in the headline; SSA rounds the monthly benefit down to the lower dollar. The bend points are the 2026 values, and your own statement's AIME and benefit figure replace anything printed here.

The disability month, in dollars

ItemAmount
Monthly income need$3,500
SSDI benefit$2,025
Private long-term disability benefit$0
Still uncovered each month$1,475

The uncovered gap is the target an individual disability policy, a bigger emergency fund or a lower set of obligations would have to close.

Payments start in the sixth full month of disability (42 U.S.C. 423(a)(1)), so the first check arrives roughly 5 months after the disability begins. Medicare follows after 24 months of disability benefits (42 U.S.C. 426).
SSDI eligibility is medical and vocational, decided by SSA - a benefit estimate is not a claim decision. Your own benefit statement's AIME and projected figure win over anything this page prints.

Two rules make disability different from retirement, and almost nobody quotes them in the same breath: the first check does not arrive until the sixth full month of disability, and Medicare begins only after 24 months of disability benefits. This page prints both, then compares SSDI plus any private long-term disability benefit against the income your household actually needs every month.

About this disability insurance calculator

Disability can end a working life in the middle of a mortgage, long before retirement benefits become reachable. The disability calculator estimates your SSDI monthly benefit from the AIME you enter, using the same primary insurance amount calculation as the retirement side, and prints the waiting period, the Medicare wait and the gap between your benefits and your income need.

The method is printed in full on the page and is recomputable from the printed bend-point table. Danfio sells no data and moves no leads for any insurer; there is no brokerage, no lead form and no reason for any number to lean.

Eligibility for SSDI is medical and vocational, decided by SSA - it is a claim decision this page cannot and does not make. Treat the result as an arithmetic estimate, and let your own benefit statement win over anything printed here.

How this disability insurance calculator works

The benefit is your primary insurance amount

SSDI pays the same primary insurance amount that drives your retirement benefit, built from the 2026 bend points: 90% of the first $1,286 of AIME, 32% of the slice from $1,286 to $7,749, and 15% of everything above $7,749. The three pieces are added and the monthly benefit is rounded down to the next lower dollar, which is the figure the page shows.

At an AIME of $4,000 the first $1,286 produces $1,157.40, the next $2,714 produces $868.48, and there is no third piece, so the monthly benefit lands at $2,025. An AIME of $10,000 adds 15% of the $2,251 above the second bend point and comes to about $3,563.

The AIME on your statement is the only input that matters here, because SSA has already done the years-of-work and earnings-indexing arithmetic behind it. Because the benefit is rounded down and the bend points are published values, the formula should agree with SSA to the dollar; any remaining difference comes from the earnings record, not from the arithmetic.

The five-month waiting period

By statute, disability benefits for a worker begin in the sixth full month after the disability starts (42 U.S.C. 423(a)(1)); the first five full months pay nothing. The page prints that five-month wait and multiplies the monthly benefit by five to show the income forgone across it, which is the hole a household has to bridge from savings before any check arrives.

The printed figure is the benefit deferred, not the household budget. If your obligations are $3,500 a month, five months cost far more than five months of SSDI, and the table that compares obligations with benefits shows that second gap separately.

The statutory five months is also a floor rather than a forecast. SSA still has to decide the claim, and applications routinely take longer, so the practical gap between the disability and the first payment is usually wider than the number printed. The page labels the figure as the statutory wait and leaves the delay beyond it to the reader.

Medicare after 24 months

People entitled to SSDI become entitled to Medicare after 24 months of disability benefits (42 U.S.C. 426), not at age 65. For someone disabled at 40 that is roughly a quarter of a century earlier than the ordinary age of entitlement, and it is one of the strongest reasons to keep an SSDI claim alive even when a private policy already replaces part of the income.

The 24-month clock starts with entitlement to disability benefits, which is itself tied to the five-month waiting period, not with the date of disability. Adding the two together is closer to the truth than quoting either alone, and the page keeps both numbers visible so the two clocks are not mistaken for one.

Medicare eligibility is not the same as free care. Premiums, deductibles and coinsurance still apply, and the page does not model them; the point here is the date the coverage can begin, because a household planning around a long disability needs to know when the health coverage changes hands.

The gap the estimate exposes

The page adds any private long-term disability benefit you already carry to the SSDI number and compares the total with your monthly income need. The share replaced and the dollars still uncovered are the honest output: the gap is the target an individual policy, a larger emergency fund or a smaller set of obligations would have to close.

The private benefit is added at face value. Group long-term disability policies commonly cap the benefit as a percentage of income, offset it against Social Security and other income, or tax it when the employer paid the premium, and none of that is modeled here. Real take-home disability income is therefore likely to be lower than the sum printed, which makes the uncovered gap a floor rather than a forecast.

Eligibility is decided by SSA on medical and vocational evidence, and no calculator makes that decision. The page assumes a covered disability and answers a different question: how much the benefit would be, when it starts, and what the household would still have to cover each month. An estimate, not a return, and not tax advice.

Worked examples

Each example below was run through the calculator on this page when the site was built, so the numbers match what you see when you enter the same inputs.

A mid-career worker, no private policy

Your AIME (from your SSA statement): $4,000.00 · Monthly income you need to keep up: $3,500.00 · Private long-term disability benefit: $0.00

Estimated SSDI monthly benefit

$2,025

Your primary insurance amount on an AIME of $4,000, from the 2026 bend points.

Replaces your monthly income need (SSDI + private benefit): 57.9% · Annual benefit: $24,300 · Waiting period: 5 months · Medicare starts after: 24 months

A $4,000 AIME builds a PIA of about $2,025 - 57.9% of a $3,500 income need, leaving $1,475 a month uncovered for the duration of a disability. The first payment lands in the sixth full month, so roughly $10,125 passes before any SSDI check arrives.

A higher earner with an employer policy

Your AIME (from your SSA statement): $10,000.00 · Monthly income you need to keep up: $7,000.00 · Private long-term disability benefit: $1,500.00

Estimated SSDI monthly benefit

$3,563

Your primary insurance amount on an AIME of $10,000, from the 2026 bend points.

Replaces your monthly income need (SSDI + private benefit): 72.3% · Annual benefit: $42,756 · Waiting period: 5 months · Medicare starts after: 24 months

A $10,000 AIME produces a PIA near $3,563; with the $1,500 private benefit the total is $5,063 against a $7,000 need - 72.3% replaced, $1,937 still open. The bend-point table shows why: the first $1,286 converts at 90%, and everything beyond the second bend converts at 15%.

A lower AIME that clears the need

Your AIME (from your SSA statement): $1,200.00 · Monthly income you need to keep up: $1,000.00 · Private long-term disability benefit: $0.00

Estimated SSDI monthly benefit

$1,080

Your primary insurance amount on an AIME of $1,200, from the 2026 bend points.

Replaces your monthly income need (SSDI + private benefit): 108% · Annual benefit: $12,960 · Waiting period: 5 months · Medicare starts after: 24 months

Below the first bend everything converts at 90%, so a $1,200 AIME yields a benefit around $1,080 - above the $1,000 income need, a rare fully-closed gap. The page still flags the waiting period and the Medicare wait, because a benefit that covers the monthly bill does not arrive for five months.

Private disability closes the gap

Your AIME (from your SSA statement): $3,000.00 · Monthly income you need to keep up: $3,200.00 · Private long-term disability benefit: $1,500.00

Estimated SSDI monthly benefit

$1,705

Your primary insurance amount on an AIME of $3,000, from the 2026 bend points.

Replaces your monthly income need (SSDI + private benefit): 100.2% · Annual benefit: $20,460 · Waiting period: 5 months · Medicare starts after: 24 months

SSDI on a $3,000 AIME sits near $1,705; adding the $1,500 private benefit brings the total to $3,205, just above the $3,200 need. This is the case the calculator is built to show: the private policy exists precisely because the uncovered gap is what it is sized to fill.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly is SSDI?

Social Security disability insurance - the part of Social Security for workers who become disabled before full retirement age. Your work credits fund a monthly benefit equal to your primary insurance amount, the same figure your retirement benefit is built from. It is an earned benefit, and it ends if you medically recover or reach full retirement age.

Where do I find my AIME?

The Social Security statement most workers can view online shows the earnings history and a benefit estimate that already runs through your AIME. The exact indexed figure sits behind SSA’s own math; for the page, any reasonable number from the statement is enough to show you the shape of the answer.

Why wait five months before the first check?

The statute requires the disability to last through five full calendar months before benefits begin in the sixth (42 U.S.C. 423(a)(1)), and SSA also has to finish deciding the claim, so the practical gap is usually longer than the statutory five. The page prints the five-month statutory number and the income forgone across it.

Does everybody on disability get Medicare automatically?

Nearly everyone entitled to SSDI becomes entitled to Medicare after 24 months of disability benefits (42 U.S.C. 426). That is years earlier than age 65, which is one of the strongest reasons to keep earning SSDI even when a private disability policy already replaces income.

Will my real benefit match the page?

Only approximately - and SSA’s own number wins. The page runs your AIME through the same 2026 bend points and rounds the way SSA does, but your actual benefit reflects the exact earnings record SSA holds and any cost-of-living adjustments already applied. Treat the result as an estimate and keep the statement as the truth.

Does the calculator decide whether I qualify?

No. Qualification is medical and vocational, decided by SSA against its own rules, and it is a claim decision no calculator makes. This page assumes a covered disability and answers the different question: how much it would pay, and when the money would start.

Assumptions and sources

  • The benefit is computed with the same primary insurance amount calculation used on the retirement side, from the Social Security Administration’s 2026 bend points (90% of the first $1,286, 32% from $1,286 to $7,749, 15% above).
  • The five-month waiting period is statutory: disability benefits begin in the sixth full month after the disability starts, 42 U.S.C. 423(a)(1) (verified against the official source and kept on record).
  • Medicare entitlement for SSDI begins after 24 months of disability benefits, 42 U.S.C. 426 (verified against the official source and kept on record).
  • Eligibility is decided by SSA on medical and vocational evidence; this is an arithmetic benefit estimate from the numbers you enter, not a claim decision, and your own statement’s figures win.

Last reviewed 2026-10-06. Not investment or insurance advice; quotes come from a licensed provider. Read the full disclaimer.

Where a figure on this page comes from an official agency — HUD, IRS, FICO or a state body — the site keeps a dated snapshot of the source page in its sources library, and a scheduled job re-checks that snapshot, so the number can be traced back to the document it came from.

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