Can i collect social security and disability

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Now Reading:. Membership My Account. Rewards for Good. Share with facebook. Share with twitter. Share with linkedin. Share using email. Keep in mind Your full retirement benefit is based on your average monthly income in your 35 highest-earning years, adjusted for historical wage trends. Beneficiaries who work for more than 12 months and have earnings above the substantial gainful activity level cease to receive a monthly benefit.

This means they do not need to repeat the entire, and typically lengthy, disability-determination process that they initially went through to qualify for benefits. Supplemental Security beneficiaries who are able to work are encouraged to do so as well. Beneficiaries who are able to do some work will therefore always be better off with both earnings and a reduced benefit than just the benefit alone.

These incentives are helpful for beneficiaries who are able to do some work or whose conditions improve. The best available data on annual employment rates among working-age beneficiaries of Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security come from a recent report that linked Social Security data and earnings records in , before the onset of the Great Recession. This report found that Disability Insurance beneficiaries were somewhat more likely to have worked than Supplemental Security beneficiaries: The vast majority of beneficiaries who did work had extremely low earnings—just 2.

There has been little change over the past two decades in the share of nonelderly adults receiving Supplemental Security due to a disability. In , 2. This comparison does not, however, take into account demographic and economic changes, particularly the aging of the population and the increase in poverty, which both have increased the number of people who are potentially eligible for Supplemental Security.

Controlling just for income, participation in Supplemental Security by working-age adults who are potentially eligible because of low income has actually declined over the past decade and a half.

In there were In other words, the number of nonelderly adults receiving Supplemental Security grew at a slower rate than the number of nonelderly adults with very low incomes. The share of nonelderly adults receiving Disability Insurance has increased over time. This is largely due to demographic factors, including:. The disability-prevalence rate, adjusted for age and sex, was 4. A number of factors account for this one-percentage-point increase in the disability-prevalence rate after accounting for the changes in the age and gender distribution of the workforce, including the following:.

Finally, declining job opportunities for older workers, particularly older workers with severe physical limitations, have likely contributed to the increase.

Currently, the number of U. It is important, however, to not overstate the impact of the Great Recession or of economic recessions generally.

As described above, Disability Insurance is funded by a dedicated share of payroll tax contributions—0. Since the mids the Social Security Administration has consistently projected that the Disability Insurance trust fund would have sufficient reserves to cover all scheduled benefits until , but that after that date, additional funds would be needed to avoid a shortfall in the necessary funds to continue paying full benefits.

If no action is taken to address the shortfall, the Disability Insurance trust fund will only be able to pay 80 percent of scheduled benefit levels after Congress has addressed similar shortfalls—in both the Disability Insurance trust fund and the Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund, which pays retirement benefits—nearly a dozen times in the past by temporarily reallocating the share of overall payroll tax revenues that is dedicated to each trust fund.

In some cases, they have reallocated funds from the Disability Insurance trust fund to the Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund; in others, they have reallocated funds from the Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund to the Disability Insurance trust fund.

According to the Social Security Administration, the current shortfall could be closed through by temporarily reallocating a modest share of funds from the Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund to the Disability Insurance trust fund. Alternatively, the shortfall could be closed over the long term by a small—0. Absent increased revenues or decreased costs, both the Disability Insurance and Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust funds face shortfalls in the mid- to late s.

Long-term—year—solvency for both programs could be achieved through an increase in the payroll tax rate from 6. Another frequently discussed option is raising or eliminating the cap on earnings that are taxed for Social Security. In public expenditures on incapacity-related benefits comprised just 1. Proponents of cutting disability benefits in the United States sometimes point to particular elements of disability program reforms in Europe—particularly in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom—as potential models for changes to the Social Security disability programs.

In general, however, such proposals fail to take into account that these nations have much more generous disability systems, less rigorous disability standards, higher levels of social expenditures—not just on incapacity benefits but on social assistance generally—and more regulated labor markets than the United States.

Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security increase economic security for millions of disabled workers. For beneficiaries whose conditions improve, the programs also provide important incentives and supports for returning to work.

The current maximum benefit is equivalent to just three-quarters of the also-outdated federal poverty line for a single person. To address this erosion, H. These out-of-date restrictions make it impossible to maintain even a modest amount of savings, forcing beneficiaries to remain asset poor and unprotected in the event of an unexpected dental bill, leaky roof, or other unforeseen emergency expense.

Many disabled workers who receive disability benefits have made repeated attempts to work in spite of their impairments before finally turning to Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security as a last resort. Due to the strictness of the disability standard, many beneficiaries are terminally ill, and most are in poor and declining health. As discussed above, however, for beneficiaries whose conditions improve, the Social Security disability programs encourage beneficiaries to work up to their capacity and return to work if and when they are able, with protections in the event of failed work attempts.

If you applied for disability within a year of starting Social Security, this could mean being restored to your full retirement benefit; after a year, there will be some reduction. Because disability claims take months, even years longer to process than retirement claims, some people who turn 62 with significant health issues apply for both benefits at once, so as to have some Social Security income while awaiting an SSDI decision. As above, if your disability application is approved, you will get a higher benefit though not necessarily your full retirement benefit and a retroactive payment.

Consider consulting an attorney well-versed in disability law before pursuing this course. In all these scenarios, if you switch from retirement benefits to SSDI, the disability amount you are getting when you reach full retirement age becomes your retirement benefit. Many Social Security services are available online and by phone.

If you have a "dire need situation" regarding your benefits or need to update information attached to your Social Security number, such as your name or citizenship status, you may be able to schedule an in-person appointment. See Social Security's coronavirus page or call your local office for more information. You are leaving AARP. Please return to AARP. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age.

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