You might be curious about what happens once you reach full retirement age (FRA) if you receive Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) benefits. The good news is that your benefits will convert immediately and, for most individuals, will not change.
If you continue to meet the requirements for disability, your Social Security Disability benefits will remain payable. If you are still disabled, when you reach full retirement age, your retirement benefits will start, and your SSDI benefits will end. In other words, your SSDI benefits become retirement benefits from Social Security.
Keep reading below for more information.
How Can Social Security Disability Be Maintained Until Retirement?
You can continue to receive SSDI benefits until you reach retirement age, at which point the benefits will convert to retirement benefits. To keep your benefits in effect until retirement age, you must take certain steps.
Disability Status
Make sure you visit your doctor frequently. You’ll have to keep track of how your illness keeps you from working. The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) may dispute your disability status during Continuing Disability Reviews if you don’t provide adequate paperwork.
Respond as quickly as possible after receiving a notice regarding a continuing disability review. If you do not answer, you risk losing your benefits.
Work Status
Similarly, inform the SSA if your employment status changes. You must report changes to the SSA if:
● You begin work or stop working.
● Your job’s compensation, responsibilities, or hours have changed.
● You start covering the costs of your work-related disability-related expenses.
Any changes to your health or place of employment can be reported via phone, fax, letter, or in person. You can also express disagreement with a determination via your online Social Security account.
In some circumstances, you can receive benefits if you return to work while receiving SSDI. The SSA considers any month in which you work a trial work month if you earn more than $910. You can continue getting benefits if you have not completed nine trial work months in a rolling 60-month period.
When do SSDI Payments Convert to Retirement Benefits?
The earliest your SSDI benefits could convert to retirement benefits is age 65, assuming you were born before 1937. Your birth year determines when your benefits convert.
Retirement payments based on birth years replace SSDI benefits at the following points:
● 65 years and two months old if born in 1938
● 65 years and 4 months old if born in 1939
● 65 years and 6 months old if born in 1940
● 65 years and eight months old if born in 1941
● 65 years and 10 months old if born in 1942
● 66 years old if born between 1943 and 1954
● 66 years and 2 months old if born in
● 56 years and 4 months old if born in 156
● 66 years and six months old if born in 1957
● 66 years and eight months old if born in 1958
● 66 years and 10 months old if born in 1959
● 67 years old if born in 1960 or later
Unlike SSDI, your Social Security retirement benefits are not capped by your income. Your retirement payments will no longer be based on SSDI regulations.
Can I Raise My Benefits after I Reach the Age of Retirement?
If you get workers’ compensation and SSDI, your benefits could increase. Any municipal benefits from programs like Workers’ Compensation may have decreased your SSDI payout because you most likely did not pay taxes on them.
People who are on SSDI when they hit full retirement age (FRA) do not have this option. The benefits automatically convert to retirement and they cannot delay the SSDI payments.
The good news is that this reduction will terminate when you reach full retirement age, increasing your Social Security payment.
What about Medicare?
Medicare enrollment typically begins around age 65. But when you’re under 65, you are automatically enrolled in Medicare if you have been deemed disabled by SSA for 24 months or more. (If you have been diagnosed with ALS, you can be Medicare eligible earlier, typically during your initial SSDI payment.)
Conclusion
If you’re currently receiving SSDI and nearing retirement age, SSA will automatically process your application for retirement benefits in most cases.
14 Responses
I am currently on SSDI.I was born 8/21/58 and will reach retirement (fra) April 21st 2025.Is there anything I should know or do when this happens? I do work part-time but have an acomidation at my job to be able to sit while I work. Will I be notified by SSI?or will benefits just convert over? Please reply, I am very concerned…
Thank you for your question about transitioning from SSDI to retirement benefits. I understand this change feels concerning, but I want to reassure you that the process is completely automatic and seamless.
When you reach your full retirement age in April 2025, Social Security will automatically convert your SSDI to retirement benefits. You won’t need to file any paperwork or take any special actions.
Regarding your part-time work, your accommodation to sit while working won’t be affected by this transition. In fact, once you reach retirement age, you’ll have more flexibility with work because the SSDI earnings limits will no longer apply.
While Social Security typically sends a notice about the conversion, you don’t need to wait for it. If you’d like additional peace of mind, you can check your account at http://www.ssa.gov/myaccount or call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213.
I hope this helps ease your concerns about the upcoming transition. Remember, this is a normal process that happens for all SSDI recipients at full retirement age, and Social Security has systems in place to handle it smoothly.
You have good reason to be concerned. Yes they will notify you, bad news is you’re going to lose a couple of hundred dollars.
Thank you for sharing your experience with the SSDI to retirement transition. While many beneficiaries see their payment amount remain the same, you’re correct that some people may experience changes in their benefit amount during this conversion. The specific impact varies based on individual circumstances, including work history and when benefits began.
If anyone notices unexpected changes in their benefits after converting from SSDI to retirement, we encourage them to contact Social Security for a detailed review of their specific situation.
What happens if I go to work 4 months before I retire on my ssdi
When you work in the months before your SSDI converts to retirement benefits, you’ll still need to follow SSDI work rules until your full retirement age. This means:
– You must stay under the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) limit for earnings
– The trial work period rules still apply
– Your work accommodations should remain in place
Once you reach full retirement age, these SSDI income restrictions change.
if my birthday is 6/12/1958… i reach retirement at 66 8 months which is feb.. but i dont receive the first payment until march.. third Wednesday.. do i still receive my last ssdi payment in february then on the third wednesday.. or does it skip a month.. between ssdi and ss
?
There shouldn’t be a gap in your payments. Your last SSDI payment in February will cover January, and your first retirement payment in March (on the third Wednesday) will cover February. The payments continue monthly without interruption, just switching from SSDI to retirement benefits.
I have reached my full retirement age in Jan 2025, Social Security already converted my SSDI to retirement benefits. However, my benefit amount is reduced! is there any reason?
If you’ve noticed a reduction in benefits after converting from SSDI to retirement, contact Social Security at your local office (find it at http://www.ssa.gov/locator) for questions. The conversion of benefits from disability to retirement does vary. The change could be due to an error or other factors affecting your benefits that need review.
I reach 66 and 8 on march 7th, will my payment date change, I am on disability, both social security and 100 percent from VA unemployable,
I need to make changes in some mortgage payments if it does
When your SSDI converts to retirement benefits at 66 and 8 months, your payment date will be based on your birth date. Since March 7th falls between the 1st-10th of the month, your Social Security retirement payments will arrive on the second Wednesday of each month.
Your VA benefits payment schedule should remain unchanged. For VA benefit questions, call 800-827-1000 or visit http://www.va.gov/contact-us.
I’m on SSDI and it will convert to retirement benefits when I reach 67 in August of 2028. My question is on my current HMO plan. When I reach full retirement age, in 2028, will I be able to retain my current HMO Advantage plan, or will it automatically transfer to Medicare parts A and B?
Your Medicare Advantage plan will not automatically change when your SSDI converts to retirement benefits. You can keep your current plan as long as you continue to pay the premiums and live in the plan’s service area.
If you want to change plans, you can do so during the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15 – December 7) or if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.