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My sister needs my help and I am at a loss. She needs to move. She may go back to work part time 3 days a week next month but that is up in the air. She has Scloerderma (sp.) and it's tightening of the skin and muscles and in her case, is affecting her lungs (scarring).

Her house costs her just over $1,000 a month for mortgage, sewer, water, ins., taxes, and then she has lots of co-pays and utilities and food. It's way to expensive. She's applied for SS disability but that was just 6 weeks or so ago - a long wait time to even know. If she gets it, she will get approx. $1,200 a month,

BTW, she's 58 yo. lives alone with two dogs, one old and small, the other 55 #'s and younger. With SSD, she will still have medicare and health ins. to pay for.

My thoughts are for her to get into a government sponsored housing where they only take 1/3 of the income. She has $22k in savings and that's it. She may make $80k on the sale of her house after all is said and done. I don't know anything about this but I have heard over the years that it exists. Anyone???

So maybe she could buy a townhouse/condo and just pay association fees (I don't know how much they are typically) as I have found a suitable condo in a nearby town where she's living now for listing $78k. She could pay cash and just have to worry about utilities/ins. and food, ah, after the assoc. fees.

I'm too far away for her to live here as I've asked her but her doc. are 5 hrs downstate. I'm at a loss. She'll have too much money in the bank to qualify for HUD housing, I think.

I talked with my accountant friend and she will not have to pay taxes on the money she receives from the sale of her house.

I think I need a drink...

Is your sister on Medicare now? If not and she is planning on getting it through SSDI, she will need to wait 24 months after the first actual SSDI payment to start on Medicare...

Why does your sister need to move? Trying to understand objectives so that a suggestion would make sense.

An FYI on the SSDI application. If she can, have her PCP write a letter documenting in detail her disability and it's impact. Get that to SS once it has been assigned to your sister's state SS office.

About 25-30% are accepted on the first application. The rest must be appealed. The letter, in my case, helped justify the disability.

She has to move because the cost is way too much. The SSD check will be very close to $1,200 a month and her house alone costs just over $1,000, not including utilities, medical expense and food every month.

She's going to try going back to work part time starting next month. Is that going to stop her SSD application do you know? Will she still quality for SSD?

Thank You,

I don't think working during the waiting period is an issue (having said that, I am not sure and she should ask SS).

She will be limited on earned income after getting SSDI. You can work but there is a cap per month that, if exceeded, might mean she'd loose SSDI.

And in afterthought, once I'd applied, I don't think they ever asked about if I'd earned any income but they could possibly know because her employer would be submitting SS . I'd really ask as she doesn't want to rock the boat if she's on the road to approval.

I would ask...

Oh, and most/all SSDI attorneys really will only help with your claim once it has been denied. So she's applied, she waits and then it is approved or denied. If that happens, she appeals and that may be where an attorney could be utilized.

Thanks, she got an attorney right away. SSDI just sent her another form basically asking the same questions as the o. application. It's six pages of her work history for the last fifteen years etc. How much wt. she carried, # of hrs. worked at each job, her duties, etc. How's she feeling now, her limitations and all this was in the o. application.

Frustrating.

HUD housing cares only about income - not assets - (only the income from assets) . I hope all goes well for her ...