{"id":122,"date":"2026-08-21T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tododisca.es\/en\/?p=122"},"modified":"2026-08-21T07:36:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:36:06","slug":"ssdi-trial-work-period-2026-1210-threshold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tododisca.es\/en\/ssdi-trial-work-period-2026-1210-threshold\/","title":{"rendered":"SSDI trial work period in 2026: earning more than $1,210 in a month starts the clock, and nine months end it"},"content":{"rendered":"

The trial work threshold is not the same thing as the substantial gainful activity limit of $1,690, and confusing the two is the fastest way to lose a benefit that the rules were designed to protect.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Social Security Administration (SSA)<\/strong> counts any month in which a beneficiary on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)<\/strong> earns more than $1,210<\/strong> in 2026 as a trial work month<\/strong>. Nine such months inside a rolling 60-month window<\/strong> exhaust the trial work period, and during every one of those nine months the SSDI payment continues in full, no matter how high the earnings go. The average SSDI disabled-worker benefit was $1,635.27<\/strong> a month in SSA’s July 2026 data, and about 6.99 million<\/strong> disabled workers are covered by these rules.<\/p>\n

What a trial work month is, and what it is not<\/h2>\n

The trial work period<\/a> exists so that someone receiving SSDI can test whether they can return to work without gambling their entire benefit on the attempt. The $1,210 figure is only a counter. Crossing it does not reduce the check, does not trigger a review of the medical condition and does not by itself end eligibility. It simply marks the month as used.<\/p>\n

Two details decide how long a trial work period actually lasts. The nine months do not have to be consecutive, and the window that holds them rolls: SSA looks back across the previous 60 months to see how many service months have already been counted. For someone working intermittently, the trial work period can therefore stretch across years. For someone who returns to steady full-time work, it can be gone in nine.<\/p>\n

$1,210 or $1,690: the distinction that matters<\/h2>\n

These are two different thresholds doing two different jobs, and readers routinely merge them. Substantial gainful activity (SGA)<\/strong> in 2026 is $1,690 a month for non-blind beneficiaries and $2,830 for blind beneficiaries<\/a>. It is the level of earnings SSA treats as evidence that a person is no longer disabled for program purposes.<\/p>\n