The Social Security Administration has many rules and regulations when it comes to Social Security disability and retirement benefits. These are two programs closely related, but an individual cannot receive both at the same time.
This is something many people are confused about, but the rules are pretty clear. If you are at full retirement age, which is 66 for anyone born between 1954 and 1959 and 67 for everyone born 1960 and later, you are not able to collect disability benefits because Social Security considers you to be at full retirement age and because you are already collecting retirement benefits.
There is the potential for an individual to collect early Social Security retirement benefits beginning at age 62. This individual only receives about 80 percent of what their full retirement amount would be because they pay a penalty for collecting early. This same person is able to apply for disability benefits because they have not reached full retirement age and could potentially still are in the workforce. If a person collecting early retirement benefits is found disabled while they are collecting early retirement benefits, they are reimbursed for the amount of benefits they are being penalized for.
There are different rules for someone who collects early retirement benefits and receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. Because SSI is a needs based program, the maximum payment per month for SSI is $721 per month. If early retirement benefits would be more than $721 per month for this individual they would not be eligible for any further SSI payments because, according to Social Security, the need is no longer there.
The landscape of Social Security disability and retirement can be a confusing one, but there are concrete rules in place to determine eligibility. If you would like to learn more about how disability and retirement benefits impact each other click here.
