Social Security provides needed financial assistance to workers with disabilities. Social Security disability benefits can also continue past a recipient’s retirement age.
Retirement
The full retirement age for Social Security retirement benefits for individuals born in 1960 or afterwards is 62. But an individual with an FRA of 67 can start collecting approximately 70 percent of their FRA age benefits if they start receiving benefits when they are 62.
If a person’s disability benefit is more than their age 62 Social Security retirement benefit, that recipient will receive more benefits if they stay on disability until their full retirement age. After a recipient reaches 67, their Social Security disability benefits stop and then they can begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits. The retirement benefits will be the same as the recipient’s disability payments that recipient is 67 years old.
But recipients must take the initiative if they want to put off retirement benefits past 67. They should contact the Social Security Administration to postpone retirement benefits. Otherwise, Social Security benefits will convert over to the FRA retirement benefit.
Planning
Deciding when to collect retirement benefits requires planning. Deferring retirement benefits depends on whether recipients have other sufficient resources or assets to meet their needs until they are 70 years old.
Also, the FRA is typically based upon the average monthly income for a recipient’s 35 highest work years. But the FRA for individuals with disabilities is calculated on their average income from when they were 21 until the year that they got their disability. This modification prevents penalizing individuals with disabilities if they do not have 35 years of earnings.
Social Security disability payments may be reduced if a recipient is receiving workers’ compensation benefits or worked for a government employer which did not deduct Social Security payments from their pay.
An attorney can help you seek the Social Security benefits that meet your situation. They can also represent you and assert your rights in reviews and appeals.