Social Security Disability
When You’re Over 50
in Louisiana

Rules for Social Security Disability Over 50

When you’re applying for Social Security Disability benefits, your age can be a factor in all the main qualifications:

• Your major health problems
• Your inability to continue in your job
• Your inability to switch to a new job
• How long your medical condition will last

If you’re younger than 50, Social Security may say that even if your health problems prevent you from doing your most recent job, you could still retrain for a new job.

When you’re 50 or older, they may be less strict about it—but you have to show them how your daily activities are limited.

Another factor is the job market.

You may be able to argue at your age that you’re less likely to get hired for a job that you could physically still do—like an office job you haven’t done before.

You don’t have to pay anything to have one of our experienced Metairie disability attorneys provide an introductory assessment of your case.

Odds of Winning Social Security Disability Get Better with Age

The more years you have over 50, the easier it may be to qualify for benefits.

That’s at least until you reach retirement age, when you would switch from disability to retirement benefits.

These are the age groups Social Security puts people in:

• Age 18–49 (“Younger Person”): To get benefits at this age, your health problems must leave you unable to work in any job that exists.
• Age 50–54 (“Closely Approaching Advanced Age”): Once over 50, you have less to prove: only that you can’t continue in your most recent jobs.
• Age 55 and Up (“Person of Advanced Age”): Social Security becomes even less strict with you about whether you could return to working.

You don’t have to wonder about where you stand. Our Social Security Disability lawyers can help you get benefits and stand tall again.

After years of hard work, you deserve nothing less than a dedicated New Orleans area attorney for your disability claim. If it’s a work injury that knocked you off the job, we can even help you get benefits for that, too.

You pay no fee until you win benefits