A comment about 1) disability and 2) passports:
My husband came out of the Air Force as a computer operator, taught himself programming, worked 3 jobs for several years while he worked his way up and was Systems Analyst for a University when he was forced to retire on disability 10 years ago. He would still love to work even if it is only ‘answering phones’. But answering phones won’t pay the bills, medical costs are astronomical, he can’t be insured except through Medicare, and he isn’t allowed to earn over a certain small amount each year without impacting his retirement. That’s if he could do the job, which he can’t. I was forced to quit work to stay home and be care provider. (That’s when I started my affiliate business.)
We were audited and owed the IRS which we were paying on until he became disabled. (Did you know that the disabled person has to have not earned any income for 5 or 6 months before SS will kick in?) Once we were no longer able to make the agreed upon payments the IRS filed to take the money out of his SS check each month until paid off, which was (finally) in November of last year. That’s why I was so thrown about the passport information. I’m applying for passports for both my husband and myself knowing he’ll probably never use his but praying for the opportunity. And I’ll be damned if I get one without him. So now I’m hoping that the tax lien won’t cause problems or keep us from getting them. Just what I need, another opportunity to revisit the IRS.