My friend, mentioned above, has worked for years by keeping her earnings just barely under the limit. She works for wages and punches a time clock, so she is not dealing with self-employment. Now, in her case, she is in her late 50s. The older you are, the less likely that the SSA is going to reclassify you as able to work full-time. Also, her disability is physical.

She did get called in by SSA for exceeding the limit over a short interval, but she negotiated her way out of that jam. She's a great negotiator and she consults a "benefit advisor," who she says has been a great help to her.