One of the most important criteria is your age. Social Security has decided that your age is a very important factor. This reflects the philosophy that at certain ages it becomes more difficult to adapt to new situations, demands and circumstances. So if you’re 49 or younger, Social Security says all jobs in the United States are available. This means jobs like toll collector, identification clerk, security monitor watchman, credit card clerk, etc. must be discarded.

So even if you have an orthopedic disability that rules out your previous relevant job (PRW) as a warehouse worker but you are 49 or younger, you would not be considered disabled because you have not ruled out the light/sedentary jobs I have cited. above. This is so even if he has never been trained or educated for light/sedentary work. Social Security will assume that you are still young enough to adjust to new work situations.

If you’re in the age bracket of 50 to 54, what the SSA calls Approximate Old Age, you get slightly more favorable treatment from Social Security. However, if you are still able to perform past jobs that were PRW, you cannot be considered disabled. But even if you are unable to do any PRW work, your still relatively young age may still nullify your claim. Social Security has the burden of showing that you can’t do other jobs when you have shown that you can’t do PRW. But Social Security can meet its burden of proof by using a vocational expert to testify that (despite your orthopedic impairment) you can still do other jobs in the national economy.

If you are in the 55-59 age bracket, what the SSA calls Old Age, you are now treated much more favorably by the SSA. Again, if you can’t do PRW, the burden shifts back to Social Security to prove you can do other jobs. But if your advanced education is combined with a lack of education and skills, you may be close to winning a disability case. This is especially the case if you also have disability restrictions that restrict you to sedentary work. Sedentary work (sitting work) is defined as work that does not require standing for more than two hours of an eight-hour work day and does not require lifting more than ten pounds. Thus, age has now become a much more important factor.

If you’re in the 60-64 age bracket, what the SSA calls retirement age, then the SSA is really smiling on you. You may just have to show that you can’t PRW. Social Security assumes you are too old to retrain and too new to adjust to new work circumstances.

In short, Social Security has made the decision to consider the applicant’s age as a major component of the application. So if he is only 49, he may want to work another year before applying. More importantly, if you are 54, you definitely need to work another year and get the favorable treatment of the 55-59 criteria. But even then, you may need to hire an experienced social security attorney to maximize your chances.