US SSDI Survivor Benefits

[OnMyWay]

After reading these responses and doing a little bit of research I see there is quite a bit of difference between SSDI and regular SS. 

My family maximum for regular SS goes by this:

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/familymax.html

Whereas the SSDI family max goes by this:

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/dibfamilymax.html

and the highest SSDI family max is

150% of your PIA.  For regular SS, my family max is 173% of my PIA.  My family max allows me (at age 62) and my two kids to get a total that is about $50 less than our family max.

8 hours ago, marine6357 said:

you should have both children on as dependents.

 

9 hours ago, ITGeek said:

So between my benefit and son's, we will receive the Maximum Family Benefit amount.  That's why I'm unable to add either my spouse or step-daughter to my SSDI benefit.

I asked about getting SS for my 14 year old step daughter, and they (US embassy Manila) told me she also would have to live in the US for 5 years and be adopted in the US.  That was for regular SS, perhaps SSDI is different.

[ITGeek]

4 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

After reading these responses and doing a little bit of research I see there is quite a bit of difference between SSDI and regular SS. 

My family maximum for regular SS goes by this:

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/familymax.html

Whereas the SSDI family max goes by this:

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/dibfamilymax.html

and the highest SSDI family max is

150% of your PIA.  For regular SS, my family max is 173% of my PIA.  My family max allows me (at age 62) and my two kids to get a total that is about $50 less than our family max.

 

I asked about getting SS for my 14 year old step daughter, and they (US embassy Manila) told me she also would have to live in the US for 5 years and be adopted in the US.  That was for regular SS, perhaps SSDI is different.

This is kind of related to same topic.  Today, we had to take my 2 yo son to his Pediatrician due to sore throat and fever.  She mentioned he also has mild asthma, but was most concerned he may have ADHD and require therapy because of his behavior.  Since he's been learning in English on Youtube (along with both my spouse and myself), I'm wondering if it's a language barrier.  He knows "ate", "nanay" (lola) and "tito".  When pamilya is here at night they speak only in Tagalog.  I'm hoping once we move to my wife's family house, he will pickup Tagalog from his cousins who are around same age.

Any thoughts?

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, ITGeek said:

he may have ADHD and require therapy because of his behavior.

He is 2.  What behavior is the doc referring to?

Personally, I think ADHD is way over diagnosed, especially in the U.S., and they are putting far too many kids on drugs.  Kids are hyper.  Kids misbehave.  Later when they are older, there might be an educational benefit to having them take a drug, but young kids, no.

My kids, Leila 2 and Katy 4, only know a few words of Tagalog.  We asked our school head administrator about getting a tutor for our 4 year old, and she said it was not a good time, as the child is learning the English ABCs in school.  We decided to try it anyway, and she was right.  Katy was getting the English and Tagalog alphabet mixed up, so we ended the tutoring for now.

Asthma is a bit of a catch-all term here and even if you read the medical definition, it has a wide range of symptoms and is basically anything that irritates your lungs and bronchial tubes.  When I moved here, I got a chronic cough every time I got a cold/flu.  A specialist at Asian hospital prescribed long term, expensive, asthma medications to me.  I took them for a while but really didn't make a difference.  Almost every time I get a cold I get a chronic cough afterwards.

So then my kids get a cold, the pediatrician says they have mild asthma every time.  They have fever, runny nose, congestion and a cough.  A cold or flu.  Like with me, it seems the cough is always the last to go.

I'm not sure what to believe.  Maybe the air pollution causes a lot of asthma.

[marine6357]

11 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

Personally, I think ADHD is way over diagnosed, especially in the U.S., and they are putting far too many kids on drugs.  Kids are hyper.  Kids misbehave. 

Wholeheartedly agree the over use of diagnosis for this is something that has been going for sometime Any child who doesn't comform to what other kids are doing is automatically diagnosed with some sort of ailment.

[marine6357]

18 hours ago, ITGeek said:

So sorry to hear about your wife. 

Thank you very painful part of my life as Barry Manilow said "we made it through the rain." Sorry had to use him but one of my late wife's favorite singers.

[Reboot]

On 8/28/2018 at 12:26 PM, ITGeek said:

At least I learned some good news.  With the exception of taxes, student loans or child support payments, my SSDI benefits are protected from garnishment by any creditors.  

When the USA goes into default, creditors will have SSDI recipients by the short and curly hairs.

You look like a boomer. You'll be dead by then. Your generation ate all the harvest, and then all the seed for the next season's crop.

The rest of us are screwed. Thanks, boomers.

[Ram1957]

Some truths about Social Security. 

https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/info-2016/debunking-six-more-myths-about-social-security.html

[ITGeek]

15 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

He is 2.  What behavior is the doc referring to?

Personally, I think ADHD is way over diagnosed, especially in the U.S., and they are putting far too many kids on drugs.  Kids are hyper.  Kids misbehave.  Later when they are older, there might be an educational benefit to having them take a drug, but young kids, no.

My kids, Leila 2 and Katy 4, only know a few words of Tagalog.  We asked our school head administrator about getting a tutor for our 4 year old, and she said it was not a good time, as the child is learning the English ABCs in school.  We decided to try it anyway, and she was right.  Katy was getting the English and Tagalog alphabet mixed up, so we ended the tutoring for now.

Asthma is a bit of a catch-all term here and even if you read the medical definition, it has a wide range of symptoms and is basically anything that irritates your lungs and bronchial tubes.  When I moved here, I got a chronic cough every time I got a cold/flu.  A specialist at Asian hospital prescribed long term, expensive, asthma medications to me.  I took them for a while but really didn't make a difference.  Almost every time I get a cold I get a chronic cough afterwards.

So then my kids get a cold, the pediatrician says they have mild asthma every time.  They have fever, runny nose, congestion and a cough.  A cold or flu.  Like with me, it seems the cough is always the last to go.

I'm not sure what to believe.  Maybe the air pollution causes a lot of asthma.

My son is 2, so naturally I think it's the "terrible twos".  He can have bad temper tantrums compared to most kids.  He mostly cries and screams loud,  sometimes hits or throws things.   I think his Pediatrician (along with everyone else in the hospital could hear his loud crying.  But then, he is also sick so of course he was feeling miserable.  When we looked at his "Health Book", we noticed the nurse put his age at 3 instead of 2.  So my guess is the Pediatrician thought he was 3, especially since he is big for his age compared to other kids here.  That's why she probably thought his vocabulary and responses were below a 3 yo.

Last night, I spoke with my sister who is an RN in the SF Bay Area about my son.  Like you, she said it's normal for young kids to get 5 or 6 colds per year because of their developing immunity system.  As far as the asthma, my sister has it and the Bay Area/Sacramento Valley have poor air quality (especially with all the wildfires).

I agree with your statement regarding ADHD.  When we were kids, we played outside, running around and riding bikes.  Today's kids (and most adults) are more interested looking their smart phones (very bad on eyes) than normal playing.

Thanks for the advice, as I said in my earlier post, I think once we live around my wife's family house, he will pickup more Tagalog playing with his cousins and other kids in the Brgy.

Edited August 30, 2018 by ITGeek

[OnMyWay]

24 minutes ago, ITGeek said:

I agree with your statement regarding ADHD.  When we were kids, we played outside, running around and riding bikes.  Today's kids (and most adults) are more interested looking their smart phones (very bad on eyes) than normal playing.

Smart phones and TV are also very bad for kids and are causing ADHD like symptoms.  They think everything should be quick and get bored easily with ordinary stuff.  We try to limit their exposure but it is not easy, especially when the weather is bad.

[ITGeek]

1 hour ago, Reboot said:

When the USA goes into default, creditors will have SSDI recipients by the short and curly hairs.

You look like a boomer. You'll be dead by then. Your generation ate all the harvest, and then all the seed for the next season's crop.

The rest of us are screwed. Thanks, boomers.

I'm sorry you feel that way.  I started working at the age of 16, delivering newspapers before school and as a janitor after school.  I was blessed at the time of going to university that the personal computer boom was just starting in the mid 1980's.  I even switched majors to get my BSCS, at that time one was either a Electrical Engineer or Software Engineer.  I was also working full-time and going to school at night.  I worked hard and paid into SSA for 36 years before my illness ended my career. 

Edited August 30, 2018 by ITGeek