Social Security After Age 60: Better Than Retirement
In the past, the full retirement age for Social Security used to be your 65th birthday. Now, depending on when you were born, you may not reach full retirement age until you are 67 years old. However, you can still file for what's known as "early retirement" at age 62 or 63 (depending on your birthday).
If you're already 60 years old and suffering from a disabling condition, consider these reasons you shouldn't try to hang on and take early retirement instead of filing for Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits.
1. Social Security Admits That Disabilities Increase With Age
Historically speaking, Social Security Disability benefits were always intended to give older employees a break. In 1956, when the program was first established, only people aged 50-64 were eligible for SSDI. That rule wasn't amended to include younger workers until 1960.
The Administration acknowledges that a number of age-related conditions exist, particularly those related to musculoskeletal conditions like back injuries, connective tissue diseases, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and the like that can cause trouble for older workers looking to stay gainfully employed.
2. The Rules for Approval Relax the Greater the Claimant's Age
Reflecting that general understanding that the human body tends to breakdown with wear-and-tear over time, the rules to gain entitlement to benefits actually relax significantly as you age.
Many people have heard that getting a disability claim approved can be very difficult-- and that's true. However, Social Security uses what they term "Medical-Vocational Guidelines" to determine whether or not a claimant for benefits is capable of doing alternative work or being retrained.
These are often called "the Grid Rules" because of the format they're listed in for claims examiners to use. What these rules boil down to is that the younger you are, the more likely you can perform more physically intense jobs or even sedentary work and be retrained to do a new type of job.
Once someone turns 50, the medical-vocational guidelines start to relax. They relax even further at age 55 and then relax the most at age 60 onward. By the time you reach 60, your claim can be approved even if you can perform some light-duty or medium-duty work -- depending on your education and prior work experience. That's much less restrictive than the rules someone younger has to meet.
3. Early Retirement Benefits Cheats You Out of Significant Benefits
You need to understand that filing for SSDI after age 60 when you're struggling with a disabling condition or conditions is much smarter than simply waiting until minimum retirement age and taking a reduced benefit. Consider these two facts:
If you take early retirement benefits, your monthly benefit amount will be permanently reduced. This doesn't happen if you win SSDI benefits instead.
If you take early retirement benefits, you still cannot receive Medicare until you are 65 years old or older -- your full retirement age. If you receive disability benefits, your entitlement to Medicare will start 24 months after your disability onset date.
Those additional benefits are the top two reasons to file for disability instead of early retirement.
Disability Claims Sometimes Still Get Wrongfully Denied
It does happen. Despite the fact that your disability or combination of disabilities can cause difficulties as you try to keep working, unfair denials can happen to anyone. Our office has the experience to help claimants progress through the application process with a minimum chance of denial -- and can handle the appeal if your claim is unfairly denied.
Cole, Fisher, Cole, O’Keefe + Mahoney is Central California’s leading workers’ compensation and social security disability law firm. With over 30 years of successful experience, we are committed to securing maximum benefits for our clients in the Fresno, California area. Schedule a free consultation today.