Working from home when you have a disability can not only be a lifesaver, it may also be one of your only options. It’s no secret that going on Social Security disability benefits can be both challenging and sometimes hardly worth the effort. You won’t make enough money to live off of, so you have to walk the fine line of working enough to try to make up for the lack of benefits but not working too much that you greatly reduce or lose your benefits. Losing your benefits could mean full-time work, which many with disabilities are unable to do.

See “Working While Disabled: How We Can Help” from the Social Security Administration for information on disability benefits in the U.S.

Also, this is not financial or employment advice!

Working from home is a great option for those with disabilities. However, job sites like Indeed, Monster, or ZipRecruiter can sometimes have an overwhelming amount of scammy postings to wade through. Even if you make some money through a questionable job listing, the wages may not match the amount of work you put in. A lot of “job listings” are simply meant to collect and possibly sell your information. I even have my own “horror story” from applying on one of those sites. (They can be helpful, for sure, but just use caution and wisdom when applying.)

Where can you look for work-from-home jobs when you have a disability? Here are three suggestions:

1. WAHJobQueen – Work at Home Job Queen daily posts remote job listings. You do have to skip past some things like online surveys and game testing and such (things that will not pay you worthy wages). But she’s always posting legitimate companies and the latest remote job listings. These are, as you can imagine, very competitive! So if you see something interesting, don’t wait to apply! Join her Facebook group for tips and success stories, and sign up for her emails if you want listings sent to your inbox every day.
2. USAJOBS – This is an official site of the U.S. government. While they don’t often have a lot of listings, you can rest assured they are legit. 🙂 Just type “remote” into the location. Your state may also be hiring remote jobs, so make sure to check out their website (or any state’s site, really!).
3. Straight to the source – This is the work-from-home gold mine. Go straight to the source: The career site of a major company. Just about any well-known company is hiring remotely. For example, Amazon has a work-from-home website, while Capital One is hiring for a wide variety of positions. In my experience, companies in the healthcare field (e.g., CVS or Molina) always have a diverse selection of openings and are simply always hiring. A lot of remote work tends to be technology related (like at Target currently) or customer service jobs (such as U-Haul’s customer service agent jobs). You can even use a job site like Indeed.com to search for opportunities, but I recommend going to the company website to see if the job is still open, and apply there to help avoid scams. Even smaller local companies sometimes hire remotely (that’s the job I currently have!). It’s worth a look.

Honorable mentions:

• FlexJobs – FlexJobs is a legitimate site for finding remote work….however, you do have to pay to use it. I would recommend this only if you have the finances to dedicate to it or if you have an absolutely smashing résumé. Don’t use it if you’re already tight on money.
• Upwork or Fiverr – These are sites for freelancers to connect with clients for work. If you have a skill that you can use remotely, you could give this a shot. However, it’s a lot of work, and it helps if you have a niche and/or a stunning portfolio to make you stand out from the competition (and there is a lot of competition!). Also, as with any freelance work, you don’t get a regular salary, and there is no guarantee of finding steady work.

Where NOT to look? If you see anything that mentions network marketing, making thousands from home working only part-time, investing in products to sell “on your own time”, recruiting/building a team, or anything that sounds fishy or too good to be true, you may be staring down the barrel of an MLM. STAY FAR AWAY! Only 1% of people have success in MLMs, and unless you don’t mind exploiting people, it won’t be you.

For more information on MLMs, see:

• Hannah Alonzo on YouTube
• Kiki Chanel’s Anti-MLM YouTube Playlist
• Melissa Dougherty – “The Controversial World of MLM’s… And What Nobody is Talking About.“
• Melissa Dougherty – “Former MLM Leaders Share Why They Left it All.“

PLEASE NOTE that none of this is financial or employment advice! I am not a financial advisor or a job counselor or the like. Don’t quit your day job based on what you read here. 🙂

Do you have a remote job? Share in the comments about how you found it!