Are you considering Early Retirement, because of A Disability? STOP!
Social Security Disability could pay you full benefits.
If you have worked long enough, and paid enough Social Security taxes on your earnings, you are covered by Social Secret Retirement and Social Security Disability. Social Security will reduce your benefits if you retire early. Calculate the effect of early retirement on your benefits. Please contact me if you live in my service area and your health is making it difficult to continue at your work. Your Social Security retirement benefits will not be reduced if you are found to be eligible for Social Security Disability before your retire.
If you are disabled and approaching retirement age and have not yet filed for retirement benefits, call me if you live in Hampden County MA or North Central CT.
If you live in Hampden County, MA or in Suffield, Enfield or Somers, CT, and you have not yet taken early retirement, I can explain how Social Security Disability regulations apply to your claim, if you are not able to continue working.
If you live outside my service area and you are disabled and approaching retirement age and you have not yet filed for retirement benefits, you may call Attorney Avram L. Sacks of Skokie, Illinois at (773) 206-0276.
Early Retirement reduces your income for the rest of your life!
Remember, if you retire early, Social Security reduces your retirement benefits by a certain percentage taken away from your full benefit, based on how many months you retire before reaching your Normal Retirement Age. The result is early retirees will be paid a smaller percentage of their Primary Insurance amount. This early retirement decision frequently affects the surviving spouse, who is left with a lower Social Security monthly benefit.
So, while you may begin collecting Retirement benefits several years or months before your Normal Retirement Age, the reduction of your benefits will be applied to all the benefits you receive for the rest of your life. Also remember, Medicare coverage is not available until you reach age 65, unless you have become eligible for Social Security Disability. Click here to Find Your Normal Retirement Age. Click here for a calculator to figure out the percentage of your retirement benefit, if you retire early, before Normal Retirement Age (without obtaining eligibility for SSDI).
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Q – Will a personal injury affect my social security benefits? I was in a vehicular accident and I am expecting some money as a settlement. I retired at 63 years old and currently receiving my social security benefits since March of this year.
A – Your question requires an answer from a disability attorney in your state, who understands the details of your case.
You mentioned that you were in an accident, and that you had retired early at age 63. Did the injuries from the accident make you unable to work, under Social Security’s definition of Disability? If “yes,” you could apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and if Social Security agrees that you are disabled, your monthly benefits would be increased.
Concurrent Disability and Retirement Claims
People who are found to be disabled before they receive early retirement benefits can can get retroactive benefits that make up the difference between the higher SSDI payment and the lower amount that they already received for early retirement.
And if the disability started before they were eligible for early retirement, they get the benefit of a “Disability Freeze” that disregards low earning or zero earnings on the years when they were disabled.
But even if you became disabled after you started taking early retirement, your Social Security payments could be converted to your SSDI benefit amount if you became disabled within the Timeline of your Date Last Insured (DLI). DLI means you worked 5 out of the 10 years before you became disabled. If that is the case you will receive more money each month than the amount of early retirement benefits.
Your full retirement benefits, that begin when you reach your full retirement age, will be reduced only by a “reduction factor” which is based on the number of months you received early retirement.
These are only general ideas. To get an answer that you can rely on, you must talk with a disability attorney in your state who can apply the facts of your case to all of the laws and regulations.
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The obvious disadvantage of early retirement is: Social Security will pay lower monthly retirement checks and lower cost-of-living increases for the rest of your life.
Don’t make the wrong decision.
If you are not able to keep up with your job, and qualify for Social Security Disability, you do not have to make the early retirement decision. Older workers who are laid off, or need to reenter the workforce after retiring, often have difficulty finding another job. Blue-collar workers frequently experience these problems, because their work leads to health problems that inhibit their ability to continue working to later ages, compared white collar jobs. A worker who has reached age 50 is treated favorably by Social Security Disability regulations, if the worker is unable to keep up with the level of exertion, persistence and pace that younger workers are expected to maintain. We prepare your case so that Social Security can make a favorable decision at the earliest possible step in their claims process.
Social Security Disability is not “means tested.” It doesn’t matter how much income you have from other sources; you are still entitled to your full Disability Benefit amount, just like people who retire at Social Security’s Normal Retirement Age.
Is your disability caused by an obvious medical condition or disease?
Social Security has a list of diseases and medical conditions that obviously meet the disability standards. Among these diseases is Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease. Using a procedure called “Compassionate Allowances,” Social Security will now quickly identify people who have EA Alzheimer’s and other diseases, and award their benefits. Compassionate Allowances allow the Social Security worker who is making the disability decision to rely on ” minimal objective medical information.”
12 new Compassionate Allowances conditions were added in August, 2022:
- Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma
- Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm
- Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease
- Microvillus inclusion disease – Child
- Mowat-Wilson syndrome
- Myelodysplastic syndrome with excess blasts
- NUT carcinoma
- Pfeiffer syndrome – Types II and III
- Pontocerebellar hypoplasia
- Posterior cortical atrophy
- Renal amyloidosis – AL type
- Sarcomatoid mesothelioma.
With these 12 new conditions, the Compassionate Allowances program now covers a total of 266 conditions. More than 800,000 people with severe disabilities have been approved through the accelerated, policy-compliant disability process, according to the SSA.
Social Security employees have been instructed to promptly gather information about medical treatments and activities of daily living from the claimant or third parties. For Compassionate Allowance cases, there will not be a consultative examination by a Social Security doctor unless the exam is “absolutely necessary.” Steps for Processing Compassionate Allowance claims.
Compassionate Allowance procedures eliminate waiting and uncertainty for many people who have clear cases of disability. There are many other cases which meet the Listing of Impairments, and can be quickly processed if they are properly presented to Social Security. Some cases do require extensive preparation, and must be reviewed by all five steps of the claims process.
Plan for Your Retirement Income Needs
To qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, most workers born after 1929 need 40 Quarters of Coverage (QCs) to be fully insured. Quarters of Coverage are also called Work Credits by Social Security. The amount you have to earn to get a QC (work credit) changes every year. For past years, the amount needed to earn each QC is much lower than the amount required for this year.
When you do retire, how much income will you need to balance your household budget? Personal financial planners say you’ll probably need anywhere from 60% to 75% to maintain your pre-retirement living standards. Social Security can supplement your retirement income. But you need to know what to expect from Social Security, so you can plan sufficient retirement income from other sources.
If you or your surviving spouse receive a government pension (either in installments or in a lump sum), your Social Security retirement benefits payments, and your spouse’s widow[er]’s benefits from Social Security, will be reduced by an offset. Read more on my Understanding Your Social Security Benefits Award page.
If you are eligible for an employer’s pension plan from a large corporation, your private pension plan will probably reduce the amount its pays you by the amount you’re eligible to receive from Social Security retirement. Check with your plan administrator. We can help you review your eligibility for all these sources of retirement income, as part of a total evaluation of your Estate and Retirement Planning.
Find Your Normal Retirement Age
Effects of early retirement decision
on the surviving spouse:
Boston College Center for Retirement Research: Who Retires Early?
Kipplinger Article: Make the Most of Social Security for Couples