When an American begins to collect a Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) check from the United States, it is because he or she has met certain requirements. Not all Americans can apply for this type of monthly payment. In order to collect a Disability Benefit payment, it is mandatory to be in a situation where it is impossible to work.
Therefore, an American who receives a disability benefit cannot work in most cases. At the very least, that same citizen can work at the job he or she previously worked at. This makes him or her able to get a monthly SSDI check. Still, there are many different cases.
There is also the possibility of getting an SSDI check for a birth disability. Although in this particular case we are talking about what happens to citizens who have worked at some point and are no longer working because of a disability.
In that case, the disability check changes completely at the time Full Retirement Age is reached. Still, this is not bad news, as the changes mean virtually nothing. For most Americans, having an SSDI benefit or Full Retirement Age is the same thing.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DISABILITY BENEFIT AT FULL RETIREMENT AGE?
One thing we need to understand in order to know what happens to the disability benefit is what the full retirement age is and why it is different from the early retirement age. Early retirement age is retirement at age 62, which is the minimum age to claim a retirement check as long as you have worked a full 10 years before.
However, retiring at age 62 means losing 30% of our monthly check. If we wait until Full Retirement Age (66 or 67, depending on the year of birth) we will have 100% of our retirement contributions. And this is where the change between these two retirement ages lies.
Well, with this in mind, let’s better understand the Disability Benefit (SSDI). For all practical purposes, SSDI is the same as Full Retirement Age. Regardless of a person’s age, when they claim SSDI they are claiming 100% of the money they have contributed.
So there are no penalties when we get SSDI, quite the contrary. For that reason, when we reach Full Retirement Age the Social Security Administration changes the disability check to the regular retirement check. The monthly amount we will get each month will be exactly the same.
CAN I COLLECT SSDI AND RETIREMENT CHECK AT THE SAME TIME?
It is impossible to collect both benefits at the same time. The reason is very simple, and it is that both benefits are actually the same but in different categories. That is why we can only collect either the disability benefit or the old age retirement benefit.
However, what we can collect is the Supplemental Security Income at the same time we have the SSDI or the Retirement check. This other check adds up to $914 a month to our benefit, and is received on a different day than the monthly benefit.
Regarding the days of receipt, the disability benefit is the same for all retirees. This means that it does not matter the type of retirement to determine the calendar date on which we will get each check every month of the year.