RETIREMENT BENEFITS & SSD

WHAT ARE RETIREMENT BENEFITS?

Retirement benefits are monthly payments from the Social Security Administration (SSA). You are entitled to retirement benefits based on your earnings record. These benefits replace a percentage of your income based on your lifetime earnings. The portion of your wages that the SSA replaces is based on your highest 35 years of earnings. Therefore, the amount of your benefit is exclusive to you, because it is based on how much you earned. The amount of the benefit also varies depending on when you choose to start getting benefits. The older you are when you retire, the more money you receive.

When you work and pay Social Security taxes, you earn “work credits” toward Social Security benefits. The number of credits you need to get retirement benefits depends on when you were born. If you were born in 1929 or later, you need 40 work credits (this is 10 years of work). You can only earn four work credits every year, because there are only four quarters in one year.

If you stop working before you have enough credits to qualify for benefits, then the credits will remain on your Social Security record. However, if you return to work later, then more credits may be added. The SSA can’t pay any retirement benefits until you have 40 quarters of earnings on your work record.

You can receive monthly retirement payments if you are eligible for them. You can be eligible for retirement benefits in a number of ways.

FULL RETIREMENT AGE BENEFITS

First, you can receive retirement benefits based on your own earnings.

Let’s look at a standard example. A typical worker might start working at the age of 18 and continue working until age 67. During all of those working years, the worker pays taxes from every check to the government. The government then agrees, through the Social Security system, to pay a retirement benefit to that worker. For most people, age 67 is full retirement age. Therefore, at 67 the worker stops working and the SSA starts paying the retirement benefit.

You can see from the above example that your retirement benefit amount is based on the amount of money you earned during your lifetime. Each worker earns different amounts of money. As such, retirement benefits are a different monthly amount for every person.

Full retirement age is the age when you become eligible for your full retirement benefit amount. The full retirement age is 66 if you were born from 1943 to 1954. The full retirement age increases gradually if you were born from 1955 to 1960, until it reaches 67. For anyone born 1960 or later, full retirement benefits start at age 67. The government can increase full retirement age.

EARLY RETIREMENT BENEFITS

Second, you can receive early retirement benefits at an age younger than 67. For example, you can take out retirement benefits as early as age 62. However, the SSA will reduce your benefit amount if you start getting benefits before your full retirement age. Learn how to claim retirement benefits early and how that will affect your benefit amount.

DELAYED RETIREMENT BENEFITS

When you delay benefits beyond your full retirement age, then the amount of your benefit will increase up until age 70. There is no incentive to delay benefits after age 70.

RETIREMENT BENEFITS FOR YOUR SPOUSE

Even if they have never worked and paid taxes under the Social Security program, your spouse may be eligible for benefits. They need to be at least 62 years of age and you need to be getting paid retirement or disability benefits. Your spouse can also qualify for Medicare at age 65. Learn about Medicare benefits.

If your spouse qualifies for benefits on their own record, the SSA will pay that amount first. If the benefit on your record is higher, your spouse will get an additional amount on your record. Therefore, the combination of benefits equals that higher amount.

EX-SPOUSE CAN RECEIVE BENEFITS BASED ON YOUR WORK RECORD

You can also receive retirement benefits through someone else’s work. For example, if you are divorced, then your ex-spouse can receive retirement benefits based on your earnings record (even if you have remarried). This is true if:

• Your marriage lasted 10 years or longer.
• Your ex-spouse is unmarried.
• The ex is age 62 or older.
• The benefit that your ex-spouse is eligible to receive, based on their own work, is less than the benefit they would receive based on your work.
• You are entitled to Social Security retirement or disability benefits.

Learn information about divorce and how it impacts disability benefits.

HOW MUCH WILL YOUR EX-SPOUSE RECEIVE?

If you have not applied for retirement benefits, but can qualify for them, your ex-spouse can receive benefits on your record. However, you must be divorced for at least two continuous years.

Your ex is eligible for retirement benefits on their own record. If so, then the SSA will pay that amount first. If the benefit on your record is higher, your ex will get an additional amount on your record. This will make the combination of benefits equal the higher amount.

The amount of benefits your divorced spouse gets has no effect on the amount of benefits you or your current spouse may receive.

YOUR CHILDREN MAY QUALIFY WHEN YOU RECEIVE RETIREMENT BENEFITS

When you qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, your children may also qualify to receive benefits on your record. Your eligible child can be your biological child, adopted child, or stepchild. A dependent grandchild may also qualify.

To receive benefits, the child must:

• Be single.
• Be under age 18.
• Be 18-19 years old and a full-time student (no higher than grade 12).
• Be 18 or older and disabled from a medical condition that started before age 22.

Benefits stop when children reach age 18 unless they are disabled. However, if the child is still a full-time student at a secondary (or elementary) school at age 18, then benefits will continue. They continue until the child graduates or until two months after the child becomes age 19, whichever is first.

Benefits paid for your child will not decrease your retirement benefit. In fact, the value of the benefits they may receive, when added to your own, may help you decide if taking your benefits sooner may be better for you.

CAN YOU RECEIVE RETIREMENT BENEFITS AND WORK?

You can get Social Security retirement benefits and work at the same time. However, if you are younger than your full retirement age and make more money than the yearly earnings limit, then the SSA will reduce your retirement benefit. However, starting with the month you reach your full retirement age, the SSA will not reduce your retirement benefits. This is true, no matter how much money you earn.

• The SSA uses the following earnings limits to reduce your retirement benefits: If you are under full retirement age for the entire year, then the SSA deducts $1 from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit. For 2025 the annual limit is $23,400.

• In the year you reach full retirement age, the SSA deducts $1 in benefits for every $3 you earn above a different limit. But, they only count earnings before the month you reach your full retirement age.

If you reach full retirement age in 2025, then the limit on your earnings for the months before full retirement age is $62,160. Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, you can get your benefits with no limit on your earnings.

Use the SSA’s Retirement Age Calculator to find your full retirement age based on your date of birth.

WHAT COUNTS AS EARNINGS?

When the SSA figures out how much to deduct from your benefits, they count only the wages you make from your job. Or, your net earnings if you are self employed. The SSA includes bonuses, commissions and vacation pay. They don’t count pensions, annuities, investment income, or interest. Additionally, they don’t count veterans benefits or other government or military retirement benefits.

DISABILITY BENEFITS ARE NOT RETIREMENT BENEFITS

SSDI benefits or disability benefits pay out if you have a severe mental or physical condition that prevents you from working for over one year. However, you can only qualify for SSDI benefits if you have enough work credits or quarters of coverage. Generally, you need 40 work credits to be eligible for disability benefits and 20 of those must be earned in the last 10 years ending with the year your disability begins. This is called the 20/40 Rule. The number of work credits or quarters of coverage are lower if you are at a young age. This means for the average adult person over the age of 40, you must work and pay taxes for 10 years to qualify for disability benefits.

In addition to paying taxes through work, you must also have a severe disability that keeps you from working. Learn about how to qualify for Social Security benefits.

If you do qualify for SSDI benefits, then the SSA pays you a monthly benefit. What most people don’t realize, however, is that your monthly SSDI benefit is the same amount of money as your full retirement benefit. If you need to learn about the difference between SSDI benefits and retirement benefits, then review “When Do SSDI Benefits End.”

THE ATTORNEYS AND STAFF AT OUR LAW FIRM

If you want to learn about the lawyers and staff at our law firm, then review our About Us page. There you will find additional information. For example, Andria Summers can help you with your Medicare plan. Medicare benefits come with SSDI benefits. The are the same Medicare benefits you receive at retirement. Ms. Summers can answer your questions about Medicare benefits.

Dianna Cannon has over 30 years of experience helping her clients win benefits. Brett Bunkall also has years of legal experience helping people obtain their SSI and SSDI benefits. We are experts in disability law. You can trust us to help you win your SSD benefits.

In the past 30 years, we have won over 20,000 SSDI and SSI cases for our clients. Also, we help our clients get the most from their benefits. We can give advice about unemployment benefits. Also, we help you with worker’s compensation benefits and offset issues.

If you have issues with retirement and SSDI benefits, then we will walk you through your options. We promise, you do have options. Our experts can help also you apply for disability benefits.

Likewise, if you need an appeal of an SSA denial, then we can help you with that too. The SSA has many forms you will need to fill out. But, don’t worry. If you have questions about these forms, then we will answer them. Learn what you need to know about SSA’s appeal forms. Call us for free today.

OUR LAW FIRM CAN HELP YOU TODAY

We help clients in Utah, Nevada, California and Colorado. Learn about Utah SSD benefits and Nevada SSD benefits. Additionally, your can learn about winning SSD benefits in California. Likewise, you can learn about Colorado SSD benefits. We also represent clients in Idaho, Wyoming, and Arizona.

If you need help with your benefits, then call us. We win SSDI and SSI cases. For the past 30 years, we have helped over 20,000 clients win their benefits. We can help you too.

We know you don’t have a job and can’t afford to hire an attorney. Therefore, in all of our disability cases, we only charge an attorney fee if we win. If we don’t win your benefits, then you don’t owe an attorney fee. We also offer a free review of your case.

You have nothing to lose by calling us. We can often tell you over the phone if we can help. If you live in Utah, Nevada, or Idaho, then contact us. Likewise, if you live in California or Colorado, then give us a call. You can contact us at Cannon Disability Law. We will put our experience to work for you.