Update: I am now on partial disability through my private disability insurance company effective 3/31. This plan will let me continue to work as much as I can and will not offset earnings until the combined earnings through the company and other earned income exceeds my pre-disability earnings as measured for 2015.

This is a big relief. My next concern to overcome is health insurance (once COBRA is done).

Key lesson - once a working individual gets over the shock of the PD diagnosis, it is very important to develop a financial plan.

Bob

@A MyParkinsonsTeam Member Hi Bob, I worked for a North Carolina community college when I was diagnosed with OD, but worked for several years after that. In the beginning of 2014, I realized my work was suffering and so was my performance. I was a supervisor over Accounts Receivable and the girls would sometimes do things for me to keep me from having to talk to students or parents, or even from having to get up from my desk. I knew it was time to do something. It just so happened that in NC, you could take early retirement with decreased benefits after you have been there 10 years. My 10 years would be up in September of 2014. I took early retirement, but I was able to keep my full insurance at $14.68/month. I went from about $4,000/month down to $488.00/month and I knew I couldn't keep up with that until I reached full retirement age so I filed for SS disability. I filed on line at www.socialsecurity.gov. There is a lot of paperwork but you can do it. I was turned down the first go around, but I appealed after hiring a lawyer and was approved. I will actually receive my first direct deposit this month. One piece of advice, don't hire a lawyer after the first denial. If you're denied the second time, then hire a lawyer. My lawyer received 25% of my back pay for virtually doing nothing. Once you get on SS disability, you will continue to receive that amount, even after you become full retirement age. Hope this helps you.

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A MyParki...

I don't have a private ltd plan, just state and federal options. My current employment will end chime July. I'm finding it difficult to have the energy and ability to focus on a new job prospects. Fatigue, dystonia, concentration loss are my primary issues.. Tremor, sleep pattern disruption after that.
I'm not sure if I will qualify for SDI, but until I'm not earning, I can't apply. Then I have to be actively seeking employment, so might have to take UI, which is less than half the SDI.
How do I get through this dilemma without waiting for the last day of employment?

Thank you for your responses and feedback. Navigating PD disability is like being in the Hunger Games movie. As I run the course, fire balls are thrown at me and trees fall in the path. On the other hand, nice solutions float in on a balloon.

Key lessons learned:

1) Carefully choose a private LTD plan not through your employer but through an association. This should be done early while you have years of work left so that you can make it through the pre-existing condition's clauses.
2) Carefully plan your exit from the workforce. Don't make the mistake of riding out the disability by taking lower paying jobs and then ultimately file the claim. Rather, file the claim first so that you receive 60% of your highest earnings. If your plan allows, then take the lower paying jobs until you can no longer work.

Below are the details of my present experience.

I want to work as long as possible. This year (2015) is a great year for me and I am giving it all my effort. Next year may be a struggle because my capability is on the decline.

After several reads of my private LTD policy (there are a number of exception clauses) I finally decided to call the provider. I discussed the inevitable claim that would be made. They provided great feedback and clearly understood how PD impacts workers.. Essentially my policy (which is not through an employer but rather through an association I belong to) provides for:
- 60% of prior year self-employment earnings up to $6k monthly
- will pay to age 65
- allows me to work at a less demanding job while continuing to receive benefits subject to a declining offset. Based on my early understanding for the first 24 months of benefits the company will allow a total 100% income to be realized before any reduction of benefit. For example I could work and earn 40% of old pay, add benefits of 60% which = 100 percent. I will confirm my understanding of this provision.

My work was very helpful to me. I was a medical lab technologist in a privately run lab in a hospital setting in Northern Canada. They allowed me to go to a 3 day week. I worked with the HR department and the disability consultant in the group insurance carrier to moniter my hours as fatigue is a main component. I slowly reduced my hours per day and my days. I also did less and less work that require fine motor control instead doing checking results were entered correctly and the appropriate work ups were done on the specimens. After 3 years I realized I could no longer do the work and went on LTD. I suggest you work closely with your insurance carrier too come up with a plan. It actually cost me more to do it this way as My LTD is non taxable but It helped me transition to not working. I still go and visit the lab and occasionally attend lectures.