Q & A
What happens if I take early retirement and after that I’m approved for disability?
Answer: It depends on the date that you are found to have become disabled, so it is a gamble.
If you take early retirement and later on you are found to have become disabled before your early retirement benefits started, then Social Security will pay you the difference between the early retirement amount and the full disability amount for those months you were disabled but receiving early retirement benefits, which are less. When you reach full retirement age, you will get your full retirement benefit, as if you had never opted to collect early retirement. Let’s look at an example. Mary is 62 years old and stopped working when she was 60 because of her health problems. When she turned 62, she opted for early retirement benefits. At age 63, she applied for and was approved for disability benefits, with a finding that she was disabled as of age 60.
As a result, Social Security paid her, as past-due benefits, the difference between her disability payment (which is equal to a person’s full retirement payment) and her early retirement payment, for those months that she received early retirement payments. When Mary reaches full retirement age, she will get her full retirement benefit, as if she had never opted to collect early retirement payments. Read more…
Source: Swanson, Thomas & Coon, 10/13/2014
This posting is presented for informational purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. Any opinions or interpretations presented are either those of the original author or, in the case of articles authored by the AMAC Foundation, are the opinions of AMAC Foundation staff, originally trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA) and certified via the AMAC Foundation. Any links included in the article are valid on the posted date; socialsecurityreport.org cannot guarantee the duration of the links’ validity. NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (https://amacfoundation.org/services/) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org. Because we are a non-profit organization, there is no charge for these services.