This is probably one of the most important blogs you'll ever read if you're an American citizen. If you're not then please read this anyway so everyone can learn something. I did and I learned it the hard way so it's finally time to reveal the best kept secret in the Social Security system.
Back in the early '80's I served my country in the U.S. Air Force and was very proud to do so. After that, I worked at General Dynamics and also did some contract work building Naval generators. Both of these were Department of Defense contracts. I worked for some other electronics companies after that and if you're in the biz then you know that these smaller companies and even some of the large ones can close their doors just as fast as they can open them. Like I built radio studios for awhile. That was pretty cool but how long is it going to be until the radio stations have their studios and the company lays off down to a skeleton crew just for support? I know you people in electronics know exactly what I'm talking about! I veered away from electronics twice. Once to be a security guard at a psychiatric institute (probably the most fun job I ever had and the worst pay I've ever made) and another time to work in an animal hospital. I love animals and this place was huge. It even had an elevator in it. There were a lot of animals there on a daily basis. Anyway, there's a little work history background and through the years I've learned a lot because of the different companies I've worked for. I enjoy working. I always have and I always will.
About 10 years ago I became permanently disabled. The nature of my disability isn't what's important. What happened afterwards is.
The first thing I did was to teach myself everything I could about computers and graphic design and opened up my own graphic design business. I ran it from home and that way I could set my own hours for when I did the actual work. I did have business hours for people to call in orders but if I was up all night then I could work then. I did okay but after two years I knew it was going to be too much of a struggle to keep up with the "big boys" and it was only a matter of time when I'd have to shut it down anyway. So I cut my losses after those two years and finally had to admit to myself that I am disabled and that I needed some help. I had began to reside in Canada which is where I had started that business (love has a way of making you land in places that you never even thought about putting roots down in). To my amazement I felt like I was still in the States except the crime rate is lower, they use the metric system, colored money (with one dollar being a coin called a "looney" and two dollars being a coin called a "tooney"), the Prime Minister election is held whenever the Prime Minister wants to hold it, they have National Healthcare so everyone can see a doctor, lawyers have to wear funny over-garments in court and everyone has to walk backwards when leaving the courtroom (so you don't turn your back on the emblem of the Queen), and a lot of people say "eh?" because one of the Prime Ministers said it once. Okay, so it's nothing like the States! Everyday life is like in the States. This is just my guesstimation but I would say that about 75% of the stores are from the U.S. Almost all of the television stations are from the U.S. (a lot of their news is about what's going on in the U.S.) and things like that. So it's very Americanized with a government based on England. Back to my story.
I decided that I was going to file for Social Security Disability. It really hurt me to have to admit that I had limitations and that I couldn't work a "regular" job. I can only work from out of my home and I have to be able to set my own hours. Not because I want to but because of the nature of my disability dictates certain things to me. I put my pride aside and filed my claim for disability. I wasn't eligible for SSI because I would have to reside in the States to collect that and since it only pays a little over half of what disability pays then I'd also have to have about 50 roommates!
I knew it would take awhile to get the decision back on my claim because they would have to get medical records from California and Canada. To keep myself busy I wrote a screenplay and taught myself 3d animation. I really got into that and got some software that they actually use in Hollywood and that has won quite a few Emmy awards. This isn't software that you just buy in a store either. With it being such an intense program I decided to take a correspondence course with someone who has many credits to his name and has worked for quite a few studios in Hollywood. He's been in the business for 20 years and has this course set up...well, it's just awesome and he's an awesome guy. While I was learning this new software my decision on my claim came back.
Are you finally ready for the big secret? I'm sure you've been saying "Hollywood, do we have to know all of this? Just tell us the secret!". My claim came back denied. It didn't come back that way because they don't think I'm permanently disabled. No. They have no problem saying that I'm disabled. Here's the secret that I was unaware of. They denied my claim because my claim was filed after "my insurable period of time". I've talked to a lot of people in the States since that first denial and asked them if they knew about this insurable period of time and I haven't received a "yes" one time. In fact, it's so well hid that one of the people that I was dealing with at Social Security said that he/she (don't want to get this person in any trouble) wasn't aware of it until they went to work FOR Social Security. They have a formula to figure out your "insurable period of time" so everyone is different. I would have had to file by Dec. 31st, 2002 for them to accept my claim but instead of filing I was still trying to earn a living with the graphic design business. I shut it down in 2003 and since I hadn't made enough profit to file an income tax claim, I never filed. The business itself wasn't even mine on paper since I'm not the one that put the money into it. I was considered an employee...the one and only employee but an employee. And since I didn't make enough to file a tax return then I didn't pay into Social Security either so they don't consider that I worked for that time period. So those two years never figured into the equation to figure out my "insurable period of time". I asked the question once, "What if someone has cancer and all they know is they don't feel good. They don't have enough money to have a bunch of tests run and by the time they do find out that it's cancer their insurable period of time has run out. Do you deny them?". I had to pick my chin up off of the floor when I heard a "Yes" come across the telephone. So here I had served my country, I worked my whole life and paid into Social Security until the time I became disabled and then I still tried to work, and I felt like I was being punished for it because I wasn't aware of this insurable period of time.
I appealed the decision. In fact, even though I knew it would be denied I appealed it 2 or 3 times.
You see, I don't want this to happen to one more American. I've been in contact with a couple of Senators because something has to be done about this. I fought the system for 4 years and lost every single time but based on principle alone I kept on fighting. Now my goal is to try and help get the law changed but if I can't do that then at least I can warn my fellow Americans about what the policy is on Social Security Disability. If you find yourself disabled DON"T TRY AND EARN AN INCOME. File your claim right away so you're not filing after your insurable period of time.
There is an upside in my story though. After my claim was denied the first time and I found out why then I knew I'd have to find some way to earn an income. I wasn't going to remain a victim of the system. I decided I'd try to work from home on the internet. I thought I had done some pretty good research but was scammed a few times before learning how to really research which places are legitimate and which ones aren't. You're probably wondering why I just didn't go back to making my movie. Well, I'm only one person so it'll take a long time for me to complete and I needed to start earning an income quicker then that. I finally hooked up with a company that's been rated the #1 most legitimate internet business today. Not only did they train me to become a Certified Media Placement Specialist but I also earn a steady income. This company is so sure of my success that they have a GUARANTEE in writing which is almost unheard of with these places. In fact, the lady that runs it and employs a staff of about 150 people was once a victim herself. She was the victim of the Justice system when she was left with no income and 4 kids to feed. She knew that for the survival of herself and her children she couldn't remain a victim and she'd become a survivor. Her story is very interesting and I've found a great respect for her. Although I've never met her (she lives in Arizona), I hear from her almost daily and that means the weekends also. She doesn't go around bragging that she's some big internet guru and she doesn't lie to you and tell you that you're going to become a millionaire overnight or even at all. She does tell you that you'll get the best training possible and if you follow what she and her staff suggest that you too will be making a steady income within a few months. Hey, Rome wasn't built in a day so don't expect your business to be built in a day. I'm very grateful to her because she showed me that I don't have to be a victim of any system.
If you can relate to my story in any way at all or if you're just sick and tired of the rat race and trying to get ahead then check out my website
www.24hourwebcash.com/havighorst5832 or give them a call at 1-800-719-8268 Ext. 22550 (Outside the United States? Dial 1-480-355-5612 Ext. 22550) and one of my coaches will be more then happy to give you the details about this program. There is a way out if you're a victim of a system or you're just not satisfied anymore with what you're doing. Remember that there is someone that cares. I care. I care because it happened to me and if I can help just one person out of a bad situation then everything I went through...the disability denial, the appeals being denied, the being scammed out of money time and time again with the get rich quick internet businesses, buying all the eBooks because the scammers work together and promote each other so they can become richer and richer...then at the end of the day it was all worth it.
But I don't want to turn this blog into some kind of sales pitch. That wasn't my intent. I wanted to inform my fellow Americans about what I consider the best kept secret in the Social Security system. If you don't walk away with anything else from this blog then at least you'll walk away with the knowledge of what you need to do if something ever happens to you.
In fact, I'm very curious about how many of you knew about the insurable period of time on Social Security disability. Even if you're disabled and you know about it now I want to know if you knew about it before you filed? So I'm going to run a survey until this Weds. July 30th at midnight MST. If you work for Social Security and you want to take part in this survey then I want to know if you knew about it BEFORE you went to work for Social Security. Here's what I want you to do. I'm going to give you my email address and I want you to tell me if you knew about the insurable period of time with Social Security disability. Also, if you were denied your claim because of that reason I'd like for you to tell me a little about it...especially how long you missed your ending date by. Leave your first name and last (optional), your email address, and the state that you reside in. I only want serious people to jump in on this and only one email per person. Did you get that? Per person...not per household. And please add your age also because I only want people that are ages 18+. Okay? I'll tally up what you all send me and if you have comments I'll take a few of the most unique or interesting ones and post them on Monday, August 4th along with the results. So again, the survey starts now and ends Weds. July 30th, 2008 at midnight Mountain Standard Time. And please, pass this information on to anyone that you know so they, too, will be informed. Start at home first with your children because they're never too young to start learning how things run with our government.
Send your emails to
hollywood5832@yahoo.comBy the way, Granny Gidget is expected in about two weeks so we'll be getting into a lot of gadget information then.
Thanks everyone and peace out.
Hollywood has left the building!
