Ask Larry

Do I Qualify For Retirement At Age 43 If I'm Unable To Work?

I’ve been on disability since 12 I’ve tried to work and was able to file income taxes three or four maybe five times now I no longer am able to even try to work because I had lower back surgery and I can know longer work do I qualify for retirement? If my parents, both parents are deceased and they were on my PE as well even though my father was retired he was not on disability do I qualify for his?
I’m 43 years old.

Hi. You must be at least age 62 to be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, and you need a minimum of 40 quarters (QC) of Social Security covered work in order to qualify. But, you could potentially qualify now for Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits with fewer QCs depending on when you became disabled. I can't tell from your description whether or not you have enough QCs to be able to qualify for SSDI benefits, but you can apply for benefits online on Social Security's website: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/disability/.

it sounds like you might be also be able to qualify for disabled adult child's (DAC) benefits on one of your parents' accounts. To be eligible, though, a) your parent would have to have worked and paid into Social Security long enough to be insured for benefits, b) you must be unmarried, c) it would need to be established that you've been continuously disabled since before age 22, and d) you can't have performed what Social Security considers to be 'substantial gainful activity' (SGA) at any time after age 22. SGA is currently defined as working for monthly earnings that average more than $1310 monthly, or $2190 for blind individuals, but the SGA earnings guidelines were lower in past years (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0410501015).

If you think that you may qualify for DAC benefits from Social Security, you can make an appointment to apply by calling them at 800-772-1213.

Best, Jerry

Posted: 
Sep 21 2021 - 8:33am
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