Can a Retired Person Also Collect Social Security Disability?

Congress created Social Security's disability insurance program (SSDI) as a partner to the Social Security retirement program, to provide disability benefits to those who are too ill or injured to work but too young to retire. Initially, the program was only for workers between 50 and 65 years of age, but today anyone who is between the ages of 18 and 66 can apply for Social Security disability benefits.

Can You Get Retirement and Disability at the Same Time?

SSDI is meant to bridge the gap between a paycheck and retirement benefits. So you can't receive Social Security retirement benefits and disability benefits at the same time (with one small exception, which we'll discuss below). In this sense, Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) can be thought of as a retirement benefit for those who are forced to retire early.

If you do start to collect SSDI disability benefits, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will convert them to retirement benefits when you reach full retirement age (67 for those born in 1960 or later).

Can You Apply for Social Security Disability After Retirement?

If you file for early retirement benefits between ages 62 and 65 and then you become disabled, yes, you can still apply for SSDI benefits. If the SSA approves you, the agency will switch your payments from retirement benefits to disability benefits (since you can't receive Social Security retirement and disability at the same time).

The same is true if, after you claim early retirement benefits, you find out that you could have been getting disability benefits for an existing medical condition, rather than receiving early retirement benefits. Social Security will switch you from early retirement benefits to disability benefits.

Does Social Security Pay You More for the Months You Were Disabled?

If you switch from early retirement benefits to an SSDI benefit, in some cases Social Security will reduce your disability benefit due to the time you were collecting early retirement benefits. (For each year you received early retirement benefits, Social Security reduces your disability benefits by a reduction factor of 6.67%.)

But if your disability actually began before you started receiving early retirement benefits, you might be able to avoid the reduction penalty for claiming early retirement.

In any case, if you claimed early retirement at 62 or 63 and didn't collect retirement benefits for long, your disability payment should still be higher than your early retirement benefit, because of the way the penalty for claiming early retirement benefits works.

In certain circumstances, you can get retroactive disability benefits for the time you were disabled but receiving early retirement benefits, to make up for missing those higher disability payments. When Social Security will pay you extra is complicated, however, and it depends on when you become disabled.

If You Were Disabled Before Your Early Retirement Benefits Started

Say you were getting a reduced retirement benefit for a period of time (because you had claimed retirement benefits early, before full retirement age). Then Social Security approved your application for disability benefits, agreeing that your disability began before you started receiving early retirement benefits.

Social Security will start paying you disability benefits, which are likely to be higher than your reduced retirement benefit. If so, Social Security will also make up the difference between the early retirement amount and the full disability benefit for the months you were disabled but receiving early retirement benefits, for up to 12 months.

In this sense, you would be receiving both an early retirement benefit and a disability benefit for that brief time period, to bring you up to your disability benefit for the months you were disabled (this is the exception we referred to above).

When you reach full retirement age, Social Security might even pay you your full retirement benefit, as if you had never opted to collect early retirement payments, depending on when you applied and when your disability onset date was.

If You Were Disabled After Your Early Retirement Benefits Started

Some people collect early retirement benefits for a period of time before becoming disabled and applying for SSDI benefits. In other words, these are not people who were disabled while they were collecting early retirement benefits. These disability recipients will receive a reduced disability benefit and, when they reach full retirement age, a reduced retirement benefit, since they filed an early retirement claim.

Social Security also won't pay them the difference between the disability payment and the early retirement payment for the months they were collecting retirement benefits but weren't disabled.

Filing for Disability and Social Security at the Same Time

Some people who quit work at age 62 purposefully apply for disability and file for early retirement benefits at the same time, so that the early retirement payments fill the gap until the disability payments start. If you need the income, you probably have no choice but to file for early retirement, but remember that there's no guarantee you'll be granted disability benefits, and you could be stuck collecting less than your full retirement rate for the rest of your life.

Still, this is a good bet for those people who are severely impaired and are certain they'll get disability benefits. Getting disability benefits for those over 60 is easier than for younger folks, and Social Security gives special consideration to those over 65.

If you're considering applying for disability and Social Security at the same time, consider talking to a disability lawyer, who can help you assess your financial options and your chances of winning disability benefits.

Will I Get a Disability Freeze If I Switch to Disability Benefits?

During the months you were disabled but collecting early retirement benefits, Social Security will apply the disability freeze, which means that, when calculating your Social Security retirement payment from your earnings record, Social Security will ignore your lack of income due to disability. The freeze can help increase the Social Security benefit you'll eventually receive at full retirement age.

Social Security will apply the freeze beginning at the start of your disability until the month before you reach full retirement age.

Can You Receive Retirement Benefits and SSI Disability Payments at the Same Time?

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a program that could allow you to collect additional income while you're drawing Social Security retirement benefits.

To qualify for SSI and retirement benefits at the same time, your income (including Social Security) must be less than $943 per month, which is the SSI monthly payment amount in 2024. (See our article on the SSI income limit for more information on the way Social Security calculates your income.)

The SSI program also has asset limits, which apply to cash you have in the bank but not your house and a car.

And, of course, you must be disabled. The SSI program uses the same definition of disability as the SSDI program.

In a nutshell, if your retirement income and assets are low enough to qualify for SSI, you can receive both retirement and SSI disability benefits at once.

_{Updated April 11, 2024}