Dear Larry, early in my adult life, age 27, I had a disabling condition, and went on SSDI, which continued for 24 years. I went through SSA's Ticket to Work (TTW) program and have became gainfully employed through acquiring a different degree than I previously had. I worked a position that paid into SS for 2 additional years, until 2013, when I took a job a government job for The State of Ohio. I roughly remember the TTW counselor I spoke with back when I started the TTW process, stating at retirement, I continued to earn SS credits during my time on SSDI and my retirement at 66 or 70 would not be affected due to the age I became disabled. I did see on SSA.gov it shows a benefit amounts I will receive at age 66 or 70, but something someone said at my work leads me to believe: 1) I may not get any SS benefit at retirement, due to the amount of time I paid into SS after returning to work, as now being a Government worker I pay into OPERS, and 2) Even if I do get something from SS, it won't be much, because they didn't really assign me credits during the time I was collecting SSDI, and I need 120 credits paying into SS in order to not be penalized by "Windfall Reduction" Ohio has in place. Please clarify this for me, as now I'm frightened, because I'm 56, and If I don't get something from SS, I don't know how I'll survive on the reduced amount I'll get from OPERS, since I will not be working for a full 30 years in the OPERS system. I can't seem to get any answers from SSA, when I called them. They just told me to see an attorney, but I don't have the money for that.

Hi,

Well, I think I have mostly good news for you. Since you previously received Social Security disability benefits (SSDI), those years will be excluded when your Social Security retirement benefit rate is calculated. Whereas normally Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of wage-indexed earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf), fewer years are used when calculating the retirement benefit rate for someone who previously received SSDI.

For example, in your case if you received SSDI for 24 years your Social Security retirement benefit rate will likely be calculated based on an average of your highest 10 or 11 years of Social Security covered earnings. That will obviously result in a much higher yearly average and benefit rate than if your benefit amount was based on a 35 year average that included a large number of years in which you had zero earnings.

It's true, though, that if you also end up receiving a pension based on earnings on which you didn't pay Social Security taxes then your benefit rate will likely be adversely affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). When WEP applies a less generous formula is used when calculating a person's Social Security benefit rate, but there is a WEP guarantee provision that limits the maximum reduction amount to no more than roughly half of the amount of the person's non-covered pension (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf).

Bottom line, it sounds like you'll probably end up much better off than you thought with regard to Social Security benefits. Our maximization software can handle WEP computations, so you may want consider using it to explore and compare your filing options when you get closer to retirement age.

Best, Jerry