Social Security Disability pays you the quantity you’d receive at your full retirement age. If you happen to’re between age 62 and 67, you might end up running low on money while waiting for a good disability decision. Taking Social Security retirement advantages early while still waiting for a call can offer a welcome lifeline, but doing so will impact your advantages in a while.

For more help with financial planning, consider working with a financial advisor.

Applying for Disability in Your 60’s

Applying for Social Security in your golden years can get you a call faster than applying whilst you’re younger, but it surely’s no guarantee. Social Security’s disability examiners consider your previous work history and your medical conditions. To be considered permanently disabled, your conditions have to be something that stops you from working any job permanently, not only the job you currently have. 

Whenever you’re in your 20s, it will possibly be harder to prove that there shall be no job you possibly can be trained into for the subsequent forty years that may accommodate your conditions and wishes. When you’re nearly at retirement age, it’s much easier to prove that your conditions prevent you from working a job for the subsequent few years. 

How Long Does a Disability Decision Take?

Even when you might have age working in your favor, it will possibly still take an extended time to be approved for Social Security Disability. Timelines rely on many aspects, including your conditions, how quickly your medical sources respond, and in case your application is randomly chosen for a high quality review. On average, you’ll receive an initial decision three to 6 months after submitting your application. 

Usually, more severe conditions which you’ve seen several doctors for or been hospitalized for get decisions faster than harder-to-diagnose conditions or ones with no medical history. Someone with terminal cancer shall be approved in a short time, while someone with a nasty knee that’s never seen a health care provider for it can have a harder time.

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In case your initial application is denied, you’ll file an appeal on the reconsideration level in the event you disagree. The typical timeline for a reconsideration decision is six months. In case your reconsideration is denied, you’ll file an appeal on the hearings level and go in front of a judge, which might take one to 2 years, depending in your region. 

You do not want an attorney to file any of those appeals. Filing an appeal yourself online at ssa.gov immediately after receiving a call can enable you to save around 60 days of initial processing time. Appeals still have to be typed in manually by Social Security employees in the event you mail them in, which might result in significant delays depending on staffing shortages at your local office.

How Taking Early Retirement While Waiting Works

Taking early retirement while waiting for Social Security is simple. You’ll file online at SSA.gov and pick whatever month you would like your advantages to begin. If you happen to need payments to begin fast, select the soonest month. Your application must be processed in a matter of weeks. You may file for early retirement up to a few months before your 62nd birthday, but you won’t receive advantages until two months after your birthday. 

Whenever you take early retirement while waiting, your eventual disability check is lowered by the variety of months you’ve received a check. Every individual’s social security amount is different based on how much they’ve paid into the system of their working years. You may see your monthly advantages breakdown by making a My Social Security account online. 

Every month you receive an early retirement check gives you a discount factor in your monthly disability check when you’re approved. A discount factor is the same as taking retirement one month earlier. So, the longer your decision takes, the more your check is reduced. 

For instance, Jane is eligible for $2000 at 67 and $1400 at 62. Jane filed for disability, was denied, and filed an appeal. She decides to file for early retirement while she’s waiting. After one yr, she is approved. Because she received advantages for 12 months, there are 12 reduction aspects on her eventual disability amount. As a substitute of $2,000 monthly, she would get $1866 monthly as her disability check. 

Taking early retirement while waiting may also affect backpay. You’ll only receive backpay for the difference between the checks you received and what you were eligible for on disability. This may result in comparatively small backpay checks and might make it hard to seek out attorneys to take in your case in the event you resolve you would like one. 

Pros and Cons of Taking Early Retirement While Waiting

The most important advantage of taking early retirement while waiting is which you can have a source of income during a difficult time. There’s no real technique to predict how long a disability decision will take. It might be fast, or you possibly can find yourself with multiple rounds of appeals and years of waiting. Early retirement applications process quickly, so you possibly can all the time wait until you’re near needing the cash before you apply for it. 

The most important drawback to taking early retirement while waiting is the long-term reduction in advantages when you’re approved. While the reduction is comparatively small in the event you get a fast decision, it will possibly be significant in the event you wait years. Moreover, in the event you’re unwilling or unable to file yourself, you might find it hard to rent an attorney to file for you. Attorneys are paid out of backpay, and filing for early retirement while waiting will significantly reduce your backpay since you’ve received most of it directly yourself. 

The Bottom Line

Taking Social Security early while waiting for a disability decision reduces the quantity you’ll be eligible for if you’re approved. The reduction correlates to the variety of months you receive advantages while waiting and is comparatively small in the event you get a call quickly. Taking early retirement while waiting could be a savvy move to maintain your loved ones afloat in the event you need it.

Retirement Suggestions

• A financial advisor can enable you to make the suitable retirement decisions for you. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t must be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to a few vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you’ll be able to interview your advisor matches without charge to come to a decision which one is true for you. If you happen to’re ready to seek out an advisor who can enable you to achieve your financial goals, start now.

• If you might have access to a 401(k), ensure that you employ it — and benefit from any employer match you might have.

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