If You Turn 65 And Have Drawn Ss Since Age62 Should You Apply For Ssdi?

[steve Mck]

Suppose you retire @ 62, draw reduced Social Security benefits. You subsequently become 100% P & T disabled from the VA. Now you are nearly 65 years old 3-4 months away. If you apply for SSDI would you then be eligible for those increased benefits ($) that you currently are not eligible for since you took early SS retirement? And for how long would that remain. What about the wife who draws from your account as well?

[Chuck75]

As I understand it--

SSDI can continue until you reach full retirement age. Had you applied for SSDI at the same time as you applied for early retirement (62), the SSDI payment would have been the same as if you retired at your normal retirement age.

Any payments for early retirement paid before the SSDI decision would be subtracted from any retro SSDI payment.

When you eventually hit the full retirement age , SSDI changes over to normal full retirement. Your normal retirement age might be 66, or 661/2.

Suppose you retire @ 62, draw reduced Social Security benefits. You subsequently become 100% P & T disabled from the VA. Now you are nearly 65 years old 3-4 months away. If you apply for SSDI would you then be eligible for those increased benefits ($) that you currently are not eligible for since you took early SS retirement? And for how long would that remain. What about the wife who draws from your account as well?

[john999]

I think you can pay back SSA and stop collecting until you reach 65-66 and then get the full draw. There is no free lunch. SSDI is not as much as full retirement. It is more than what you get at 62, but not as much as what you get at 66. You are going to end up paying someone back somehow.

[steve Mck]

Thanks for responding to my inquiry. It sounds like a legal crazy nightmare if you persue that avenue. You are right, there is no free lunch out there.

[Philip Rogers]

SSDI is exactly the same amount you would get if you remained working until full retirement age, based on what you had paid into the SS system, at the time you became disabled. The only reason it could be higher at full retirement age is because you continued to work, thereby paying more into the system.

You can retire early and then later apply for SSDI. Should you win, you will have to pay back any regular retirement that was paid for that period of disability. The advantage is that your SSDI rate will be higher than the reduced retirement rate you took at age 62 and should remain so once you reach the full retirement age of 65 or 66, depending on which applies to you. Your spouse should receive the higher rate, also.

pr

[JustPLS]

I agree with PR. I have an application pending for SSDI now, and I began drawing reduced retirement from SSA when I turned 62. According to SSA, my SSDI amount will be the same as my full retirement amount would have been (if I am approved).