Ask Rusty – Working Septuagenarian Asks About Disability Benefits

Dear Rusty: I retired at my full retirement age, am now 79 and will be 80 in December.  I have been working consistently since.  I get a meager Social Security benefit, only about $800 due to my federal retirement offset. Most jobs I have held since filing and collecting SS have involved very labor-intensive work, to include my current position. This has taken a toll. 

My question: is there any provision in Social Security that permits re-evaluation of Social Security benefits for disability after one has collected and paid into the system for some 15 years? I suspect not but thought I would ask, since at my not so tender age, I am faced with having to cease employment that generates needed income. Signed: Working Still at 79 

Dear Still Working: I’m afraid that Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits are no longer available once you reach your SS “full retirement age,” or “FRA,” which for you was age 66. Indeed, anyone collecting SSDI at full retirement age is automatically converted to their regular SS retirement benefits at the same amount they were previously receiving on SSDI. That’s because SSDI benefits are intended to sustain workers up to their SS full retirement age, but SSDI goes away once FRA is attained.  

Thus, the provision to apply for SS disability allows only those who have not yet reached their full retirement age to seek disability benefits. Once FRA is reached, SSDI benefits are no longer available. Simply for your awareness, there would be no financial advantage for you to receive SS disability benefits anyway, because the most you can get on SSDI is your full retirement age amount. Thus, since you retired and claimed SS at your full retirement age, no additional disability amount would be available anyway.  

FYI, I admire, at your “tender age,” that you are still actively working, but I’m afraid you cannot claim more now on Social Security disability because you’ve already reached your FRA. However, from what you’ve written, your SS retirement benefit has been affected by the so-called Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) which affects those with a separate pension earned without contributing to Social Security.  

If you’ve been separately working (and contributing to Social Security) since you left government service, and you now have more than 20 years contributing to SS from other non-government “substantial earnings,” it’s possible that you can request a reevaluation of your WEP penalty. WEP provides relief for those who have more than 20 years contributing to Social Security. So, if you have more than that over your lifetime, you could ask that your WEP reduction be reevaluated to consider your additional years contributing to Social Security. If that is the case, your monthly amount would be increased to consider those additional years contributing to SS since you first claimed.  

I suggest, if you now have more than 20 years of contributions to Social Security from your non-government work over your lifetime, that you call Social Security to request reevaluation of your WEP retirement amount. FYI, you can see exactly how many years of SS-covered work you have by requesting an “Earnings Statement” from Social Security. You can get this Statement by calling 1.800.772.1213, or you can also get it at your personal “my Social Security” online account at www.ssa.gov/myaccount (Social Security will also be able to tell you this directly when you call). In any case, I wish you good fortune, and hope that reevaluating the WEP reduction to your SS benefit may offer some small financial relief as you go forward.