I have a family member who will have to stop working and apply for disability benefits due to health reasons. He'll be 64 in December and will be eligible for full social security benefits at the age 66 years and 2 months. Should he be awarded disability benefits, will that stop when he's 66 years and 2 months and social security retirement benefits kick in?

Many years at SSA, last 12 as a field office manager. If he is approved for disability benefits, his benefits will not stop at 66 years and 2 months - (full retirement age or FRA) and regular benefits kick in. He would notice no difference whatsoever, either in amount, or the timing of the benefits. No new application would be required. As an internal matter, the checks would start coming from the retirement trust fund rather than the disability trust fund. But your relative would see no difference at all. So I guess in a sense the disability benefits would stop and the retirement benefits would kick in, but your relative wouldn't know it. You may be asking if your relative's disability benefits amount would stop and the lower retirement rate that he might currently be entitled to would replace it. The answer is no. No change in benefit amount. It can take a while to get a decision as the disability determinations service gathers medical evidence. Plus there is a five month waiting period where no benefits are payable. The waiting period does not refer to processing time for decision. If he gets a decision 2 weeks after he files (which is unlikely) there is still a five month waiting period from onset of the disability (which in most cases is the day after his last day of work) until he gets his first check. When he files (either on-line or in person) he will have the opportunity to file for retirement benefits and disability benefits at the same time. The retirement benefits will be paid for life. If he gets approved for disability, the disability benefit amount would be paid rather than the retirement amount, and he would get a retroactive check for the difference between the retirement amount and the disability amount. This is done all the time and there will be no problem with this. I see no downside at all to filing for both. Since he won't be working, he'll start getting checks right away and have an income while he waits for a decision on the disability application.

Since this is a straight forward application (no decision about retirement benefits vs widow's etc) you would be fine filing on line rather than in person. If you want to file in person, no problem, but make sure you make an appointment. Do not walk in without an appointment. You'll regret it if you do. SSA is understaffed, in many offices badly so. Quote from a recent article "Massive budget cuts and hiring freezes in the last few years have turned the Social Security Administration into one of the most understaffed and overburdened agencies in the federal government." I worked tons of overtime for many years. A straight forward retirement application can usually be completed in about 15 minuets. A disability application can take 1 - 2 hours or more, depending on the number of medical sources and other factors. Without an appointment you may be there all day, or you may be told that they can't fit you in that day, and make an appointment for you anyway.

When you file for disability, be prepared with full names, addresses and phone numbers of all of medical sources, and the approximate dates of when he was seen. Bring a list of all of the medications and who prescribed them. He will be asked about education, employment history for the last 15 years. Who he worked for, job duties, weight of any thing he had to lift etc. His doctors will be asked for objective medical data. They will not be asked - does this guy deserve disability benefits? No one gets disability because they have a medical problem. They get approved if their medical problem prevents them from working in their previous job, or any other job for which they might qualify. As far as a disability application, his age will help.

I hope that helps. If you have a follow up question, I'll check the site later in the day. Good luck.

^^^^^^^^^^^ 100% correct ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The only additional requirement as Fed161 mentions was that I was sent to a meeting with a psychologist who tested me for memory and various questioning as to further working requirements. Since I had a brain injury which required surgery to repair I had all the necessary hospitalization documentation, CAT scans, MRI required, I just had to preform the testing required. I could not perform those tests adequately as my short term memory is fairly compromised, I was put on SSDI (disability) until I reached full retirement age and the monthly amount received seamlessly transferred to regular SSI without any changes and/or amount.

Everything Fed161 stated is absolutely correct in my own experience.

Thank you for your very informative reply Fed. He was just diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease (IDL) with a lung capacity of only 44%. The median survival rate for IDL is 4 years and being at 44%, we know he's definitely not at the starting blocks. He'll never feel any better than he does right now as the disease will continue to progress and we want him to enjoy what time he has left...not spend it stressing out over SSDI, approvals, denials and appeals.

Filing for early retirement benefits and disability at the same time is definitely the way to go. The only part that I'm not clear on is... If he gets approved for disability, the disability benefit amount would be paid rather than the retirement amount, and he would get a retroactive check for the difference between the retirement amount and the disability amount. Are you saying that disability amounts are typically more than retirement amounts? In the event that it isn't, would he be able to decline the SSDI benefits?

quote:

Originally posted by P229 357SIG Man:
Thank you for your very informative reply Fed. He was just diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease (IDL) with a lung capacity of only 44%. The median survival rate for IDL is 4 years and being at 44%, we know he's definitely not at the starting blocks. He'll never feel any better than he does right now as the disease will continue to progress and we want him to enjoy what time he has left...not spend it stressing out over SSDI, approvals, denials and appeals.

Filing for early retirement benefits and disability at the same time is definitely the way to go. The only part that I'm not clear on is... If he gets approved for disability, the disability benefit amount would be paid rather than the retirement amount, and he would get a retroactive check for the difference between the retirement amount and the disability amount. Are you saying that disability amounts are typically more than retirement amounts? In the event that it isn't, would he be able to decline the SSDI benefits?

Disability benefits are not typically more than retirement. They are always more than retirement. No exceptions. (I'll clarify something in a moment.) As I am sure you are aware, collecting retirement prior to full retirement age will result in a reduced benefit. The way a disability benefit is computed is the onset date of the disability becomes full retirement age. The new calculation at the disability rate will eliminate the age reduction (since the disability onset is now full retirement age), increasing the benefit. So there is NEVER an advantage to not filing for disability.

Here is what I need to clarify. This is really not for you, but for other readers who may say - well I am 68 years old, but now I have a bad heart, stroke or whatever. That Fed guy said disability benefits are higher, so now I am going to go down to SSA and file for disability to get more money. Forget it, doesn't work that way. Disability benefits are always higher only if you start collecting disability before full retirement age. No increase if you are disabled after full retirement age. No exceptions. Just wanted to clarify that so no one got the wrong impression. Thanks

Well, I guess I should clarify one more thing, not for you, but so I don't hear from any attorneys who deal with disability law. If you get workers compensation, workers comp does not offset retirement benefits, but it does offset disability benefits. So that is the one rare situation where you should file for retirement but not disability. Retirement would be higher. Doesn't sound like that applies in your situation.

Last thought, if you file online, make sure you go to the SSA website: https://www.ssa.gov/ Do not go to any other site. Many other sites look like they are SSA. Most are attorneys trying to get you to file with them so they can get 25% of the retro check. You don't need an attorney at this point. Sounds like he has a decent shot at an approval.