U.S. Social Security disability beneficiaries must meet specific requirements in order to claim them. In fact, not all Americans will have access to these benefits, as the receipt of that crucial check is entirely dependent on meeting established eligibility criteria.
Interestingly, a little-known fact among many beneficiaries is that the disability benefit does not go on forever. Once retirees reach a certain age, the disability benefit is extinguished, morphing into another type of benefit. Specifically, the disability retiree becomes an age retiree. While this change does not drastically alter other aspects of the benefit, it does completely redefine its category.
It is worthwhile to delve into the details of these changes, as well as to understand the prerequisites for obtaining Social Security age or disability benefits.
A key point to keep in mind is the mutual exclusivity of the two checks – it’s an either/or scenario, ensuring that beneficiaries can only pocket one at a time. Therefore, thoroughly understanding the ins and outs of these transitions and requirements is not only helpful, but vital to optimizing the benefits available to retirees.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DISABILITY BENEFIT
In order to get a disability check every month, it is necessary to meet the eligibility criteria established by the Administration. This criterion has several elements as requirements.
In the case of not meeting them we will not be able to get the monthly check and we will have to apply for another type of benefits or have a different income. These are the requirements:
- Not working and having a source of income of $1,470 maximum.
- Have a serious illness that limits your ability to perform work activities for at least one year.
- Have an illness that is one of the illnesses considered serious by the Social Security Administration.
- Be unable to work at your pre-illness job because of this disability.
- Be unable to do any other work because of the illness.
This makes it possible for us to get a monthly check for this benefit. However, there is something really important. And that is that if we have a disability check and we reach the Full Retirement age, we will stop receiving this check and we will start receiving the retirement check.
For some people, the Full Retirement age is 66 and for others it is 67. So now you know that if you have a Social Security disability check you will not lose your payment at age 65, but it may change when you turn 66 or 67, although it does not affect the amount in most cases.