Published on: March 24, 2017
Did you know that last year over 65,000 people over the age of 65 were eligible for their Social Security benefits? When the time comes to hang your work boots and call it quits, it is only normal to want to know if you will be taken care of. According to statistics, many people from their early 50s tend to develop health complications that force them to surrender to retirement early.
Let’s say you have been receiving disability payments and run into circumstances that require you to retire. You are probably wondering how your payments will be processed every month. The truth is that your social security disability benefits change into retirement benefits. The law stipulates that a beneficiary cannot receive both their retirement and disability benefits at the same time. There are many questions surrounding disability benefits and retirement. We shall look into information addressing this.
SSA Benefits Qualification Requirements
The Social security Administration has put in place certain criteria in order for individuals to receive their benefits. In the case that injury or disability has forced you into early retirement here are their requirements.
- Enough working credits- you have to have been working for a number of years to accumulate enough credits for them to give you benefits. According to SSA, you must be earning less than $1,090 and $1,820 if you are blind to get full benefits.
- Listed condition- The SSA requires that whatever malady is affecting you should be listed in their impairment list so as to be considered. This, however, does not mean you are disqualified, it just means the SSA have to find other ways to help you.
- 2Age- for those who are retiring the age allowed by the SSA for beneficiaries to get payment are from 62 years old for reduced retirement benefits
What if You Retire Early?
Congress periodically changes the full retirement age If you were born before 1937 or earlier your retirement age for unreduced benefits would be 65 years and above. If for some reason you need to retire early, the SSA provides provision for benefits to be awarded from 62 years of age. If you are already a beneficiary of the SSD (social security disability), this age restriction is not applicable to you. You will continue to receive your disability benefits until you get to the required retirement age.
When You Retire On Time
When you finally hit the full retirement age there are two major changes that will be put into action:
- First, you will no longer be receiving payment from the social security disability benefits. Instead, you will be processed into the SSA retirement program, which will be seamless as you will still receive your benefits as scheduled during the transition.
- Secondly, you will be assimilated into your retirement benefits that won’t be subjected to the limits on work income of the SSD program. You, therefore, have the power to increase your earnings from working without it affecting your benefits check.
Will the Expected Amount Change?
The SSA calculates your benefits according to your contributions over the course of your employment. This rate is what will be used to determine the amount received by you every month. When moving from disability to retirement the amount you get will not change.
In the case that you want representation in court due to denied benefits or just the simple process of filing for disability benefits it is important you partner with institutions capable of handling such matters. The Disability Experts of Florida are available as non-attorney spokespersons who will able to help you anytime you need it.
