Social Security conversion from disability at FRA - will payment increase?
My brother-in-law (62) has been collecting long-term disability since age 57 due to severe rheumatoid arthritis and some complications with his heart. I was explaining to him that when he reaches his full retirement age (which should be 67 for him), his disability benefits will automatically convert to retirement benefits. I told him this might actually result in a payment increase since his original disability calculation was based on limited work history. He doesn't believe me and says the amount will stay exactly the same. He has enough work credits for regular SS retirement (worked consistently for about 30 years before his disability). Will he actually see any payment increase when the conversion happens? Or am I giving him false hope?
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Paige Cantoni
sorry to say but your wrong. disability just switches to retirement at FRA but the amount stays the same. its the exact same benefit just with a different name on the paperwork.
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Chad Winthrope
•Are you absolutely sure? I thought disability benefits might be reduced because they're calculated on fewer working years, while retirement would use his full 30 years of work history?
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Kylo Ren
There seems to be some confusion here. When a person receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) reaches Full Retirement Age (FRA), their benefits do convert from disability to retirement benefits, but the monthly amount typically remains the same. The conversion is essentially administrative - the funds come from a different SSA "account," but the payment calculation doesn't change. The reason there's no "bump" is because disability benefits are already calculated using the same formula as retirement benefits (based on your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings). The only difference is that disability benefits can be received before retirement age without reduction. Your brother-in-law is correct that he shouldn't expect a payment increase simply from this conversion.
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Nina Fitzgerald
•Wait, so there's literally NO difference at all when you switch from disability to retirement? That seems so weird! Why even bother changing the program name if nothing changes? And are you 100% sure there's never any situation where the amount would go up? What if someone was working part-time while on disability or something?
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Kylo Ren
•The administrative change matters because the benefits come from different trust funds - SSDI comes from the Disability Insurance Trust Fund while retirement comes from the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund. You asked an important question about working. If your brother-in-law worked while receiving disability (within the substantial gainful activity limits), those earnings could potentially increase his benefit. When disability converts to retirement, SSA sometimes recalculates the benefit to account for any additional earnings during the disability period. This is the one scenario where a small increase might occur, but it depends entirely on whether he worked and earned enough to impact his average indexed monthly earnings (AIME).
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Jason Brewer
My dad went through this last year and the payment stayed EXACTLY the same to the penny!!! He was so disappointed because he thought the same thing you did. They just send you a letter saying congrats you're officially "retired" now instead of "disabled" but the check doesn't change.
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Kiara Fisherman
I work with Social Security cases regularly, and I want to clarify that while the basic conversion from SSDI to retirement benefits typically keeps the same payment amount, there are a few scenarios where your brother-in-law might see a change: 1. If he worked during the disability period and had earnings that could improve his benefit calculation 2. If he was receiving a reduced disability benefit due to workers' compensation or public disability benefits (offset provisions that no longer apply at FRA) 3. If he had any months of disability benefits withheld due to exceeding substantial gainful activity limits 4. If there were computational errors in his original disability calculation that get corrected during conversion These situations are relatively uncommon, but they do happen. The best approach would be for him to schedule a review appointment with SSA when he gets closer to FRA to verify his specific situation.
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Chad Winthrope
•Thank you for this detailed information! He did work part-time for about a year after starting disability before his condition worsened. It wasn't much - maybe $10,000 total - but could that impact things? And how would he go about requesting a review of his case?
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Liam Cortez
Good luck getting anyone at SSA to review anything!! I've been trying to reach someone for THREE MONTHS about my husband's benefits. Every time I call I'm on hold for 2+ hours and then get disconnected. The local office is appointment only and they're booked months out. The whole system is broken!!!!
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Savannah Vin
•I was in the same boat last month - so frustrating! I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a real person at SSA in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Saved me so much time and I actually got my issue resolved. Might be worth trying if you're still having trouble getting through.
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Nina Fitzgerald
Is anyone else confused by how Social Security calculates EVERYTHING? I swear it's like they purposely make it complicated so we don't understand what we're entitled to. My sister and I both went on disability around the same time with similar work histories and her payment is almost $300 more than mine every month!!! When I asked SSA why they just gave me some mumbo jumbo about "computation years" and "indexed earnings" that made zero sense.
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Jason Brewer
•PREACH!!!! The whole system is designed to confuse us regular folks. My neighbor and I compared our SS statements and the numbers made NO sense based on what we each earned. Total mystery math!!
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Kiara Fisherman
Regarding the part-time work your brother-in-law did while on disability - that $10,000 might actually make a difference. Disability benefits are calculated using a "freeze period" that excludes years of low/no earnings due to disability. When converting to retirement, sometimes additional earnings during the disability period can be included in the calculation. I recommend he create an account at my.ssa.gov (if he hasn't already) where he can view his earnings history and benefit verification. Then, about 3 months before reaching FRA, he should contact SSA specifically requesting a recalculation that includes those earnings during his disability period. He should be prepared with documentation of those earnings just in case.
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Chad Winthrope
•Thank you! He does have a my.ssa.gov account, so I'll help him check his earnings record. Appreciate everyone's input - sounds like I was mostly wrong but there might be a small possibility of an increase with his part-time work situation. I'll make sure he requests that recalculation when the time comes.
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