tdiu Va Holding Me Employable From Marginal Job?

[BoonDoc]

I have been researching the law on extra-schedular ratings 100% TDIU for my claim that was denied.

I see that according to 38 CFR 4.16 (a), veterans awarded 100% TDIU can only earn up to the MAPR (Maximum Annual Pension Rate) which was $846 in 2005, or $10,152. and still be eligable to receive their 100% TDIU monthly VA compensation check.

The VA is (trying) to holdi me employable due to a marginal part time job.

Anyone else been held employable due to a marginal job that was below the poverty level, and MAPC level?

I am trying to find out if they can do that. I never made over $375 per month, or $4500 in any year from this piss poor job!

Boondoc

[Guest rickb54]

I agree with Vike,

If your unemployable then you cant' work!

But it doesn't hurt if you help out a friend and he wants to give you a "tax free gift".

[BoonDoc]

The earnings threshhols are just a guideline for VA. A veteran on IU could earn $10,000.00 a year and still retain his unemployability where as another veteran earning $1,000.00 could have thier IU taken away.

It all depends if the VA thinks you are able to maintain a gainful occupation according to your records. It looks like in your case the VA has determined that, even though you're only working a couple of hours a day, they think you could work this job on a full time basis.

Remember, Individual Unemployability is just that, Unemployable due to service-connected disabilities. I guess I'm trying to say this in a nice way, if your unemployable, then you can not work!

Vike 17

[/quote

Post for Steve,

]

He does not wok now, and hasn't since the Summer of 1996.

He took the marginal job only because he couldn't work a regular job, and the VA is holding him employable because the boss put that he quit due to moving....I took over for him and worked the job after working a full time job while pregnant. WE have tax records showing that only Steve worked in 1995, and both of us are on the 1996 when I took over, and then the 1997 returns show only me on the payroll when Steve stepped down. So He can prove that He didn't just quit because of a move...we stayed in our same apartment.

He was researching if the VA could hold him employable from a marginal job, that he took only because of his SC disabilities anyway.

Thanks for the input!

[Guest jangrin]

BoonDoc,

I was thinking about this a bit more. Are we talking about this happening in 1995-1996 (ten years ago)? I think you need to write a statement and your wife writes a statement and you supply the tax returns and your apartment rental and address showing you remained living there,and exactly what happened. I'd be very specific about the job and why you couldn't do it.

Also, in 10 years time has your SC condition worsened? I'd include that and why that job made your condition worse.

Even SS allows people to try to work when they find something that they may be able to do. I don't know the particulars but I know you are allowed to try but are limited on the amount of money you can make and the length of time you can actually work the job.If you can't do it you just stop doing that job and try another if something comes up. They are strict but they would like it better if you found something you could do rather than draw on the system. They WANT you to pay into the system. So they have made some provisions. The VA it seems is not so flexible. Good luck.

Just my thoughts on this,

Jangrin

[evandc]

Something I've never understood & this may or may not apply to this post. Why a vet with TDIU & SSD

that totals close to $4,000 a month want or need to work. This subject comes up at HADIT & in Vet Groups all the time. If you want to work go ahead & work, but don't apply for TDIU & then worry that the VA will find about the money. Does your part time job pay $48,000 a year, tax free? Don't know if I am mean or hard headed or what my problem could be. When I went out on sick leave pending Disability Retirement & filed for SSD & TDIU, I never looked back. I've have not worked a day since then & just have to adjust my

life to the change.

Just my ideas,

Don Evans

[Guest rickb54]

Don Evans,

In defense of veterans who really want to work:

I must say that I have learned that I was a much nicer person when I worked. I was a happier as well and I enjoyed life more. I had worked since I was 16, and enlisted in the Army when I was 17. I had a good military career,when it was cut short and I was forced to medically retire at age 32. I went on to yet another career in civil service when at age 45 my service connected back disability was seen as cause to medically retiree me from civil service. I had given the best years of my life to my country and for that I was put on to pasture. It was hard to go from a full time job to doing nothing, so I volunteered at the local DAV 6-8 hours a day five days a week. But that did not last. I even worked under the table for awile as a convience store clerk where all I did was run the register. This was not for the money, it was to have sanity and a reason to get up in the morning. That did not last either because my wife was concerned for my safety due to all the crooks killing store clerks. I have moved twice since I was 45, my children and grandchildren are no longer close to home, (one is married to a soldier, the other is a soldier) and my wife spends her time at school or church so I now spend about 80% of my time home alone. Since I am in a new area, I do not know anyone, and I am isolated from the rest of the world. I often wonder what my family would think if I was no longer here. You see Don unless a person has a reason to get up each day there is no reason to carry on. For most veterans who draw 100% or TDIU wanting to work is not about money, it is about finding a place that needs ones talents (no matter how little the talent might be), and haveing a life that allows contact with other people and gives one a sense of usefullness and well being. Most people on TDIU or SS disability would be better off mentally if they were allowed to showcase their talents even one day a week. Untill then a lot of us will wonder if it is really worth it...... Life sucks when you have nothing to look foward too, and you are confined to the house because you share nothing in common with your old friends. So you see Don it is not normal for people to sit and wait to die, but that is what we are really doing now isn't it.

Edited September 17, 2006 by rickb54

[john999]

I don't know why anyone with a decent job that they are able to do would want to get TDIU. Who wants to be on disability? I had a good paying job before I was disabled. I could also enjoy a lot of my leisure time doing things I can no longer do. One thing to look forward to is that as you get older all your friends will be retired also and you will be in the same boat. They probably won't have as much money unless they work till age 70 and have saved their dough. I get over $4900 a month in disability benefits but some of it I paid for through disability insurance. The bulk of it is VA money however. The only good thing is that we get money from the VA. Most disabled live on SSDI or SSI. That is poverty.