Ask Larry

Do I Get Both Disability And SS?

Hello: I have been on disability since 2018.

I turned 62 on July 5th.

DO I get both disability and SS?

Do I need to do anything to do this?

Hi. No. Assuming that what you currently receive are Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits, then you can't be paid both those benefits and regular Social Security retirement benefits at the same time. You could choose to start collecting Social Security retirement benefits now instead of SSDI, but then your benefit rate would be reduced for age. SSDI benefits are calculated at 100% of a person's primary insurance amount (PIA), which is equal to the amount of their Social Security retirement benefit if they start drawing at full retirement age (FRA).

Basically, drawing SSDI benefits is like collecting your unreduced full retirement age Social Security benefit rate early. That's why SSDI benefits automatically convert to regular Social Security benefits with no change in the benefit rate when a person reaches FRA. The only times that a person may want to consider switching from SSDI to regular retirement benefits prior to FRA is if their SSDI benefits are being offset because they're also receiving worker's compensation or public disability benefits (PDB), or if they have a spouse or child who could collect higher auxiliary benefits if the disabled worker was collecting retirement benefits instead of SSDI.

Best, Jerry.

Posted: 
Sep 14 2021 - 11:35am
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