Will SSA recalculate my SSDI benefits to include 2023 earnings? Approved in 2024 but missing recent income

Yes, SSA is supposed to automatically recompute your benefit to include 2023 earnings, but it doesn't always happen on time. The recomputation is usually done after they receive your earnings info from the IRS, typically in late fall of the following year, so around now for 2023 earnings. Call the SSA and specifically ask for a "benefit recomputation to include 2023 earnings." Be prepared to wait on hold for hours though - I had to call multiple times before getting through.

SSA doesn't automatically include your most recent year of earnings in your initial SSDI calculation because there's a lag in employer reporting. Your benefit was likely calculated using your earnings through 2022. The process you're looking for is called an Automatic Earnings Reappraisal Operation (AERO). SSA runs these typically each October to account for newly posted earnings that might increase benefits. If your 2023 earnings would increase your benefit, you should receive both an adjustment going forward AND retroactive payments for the months you've been underpaid. If you don't see this adjustment by December, I recommend contacting SSA directly to request a manual recomputation.

same thing happned to me last year!! waited and waited and nothing. finally went to my local office and they did the recalculation right there. got an extra $175/month and backpay. dont wait for ssa to do anything automatically lol

I was in almost the exact same situation last year. My SSDI was approved in March 2023 for a disability that started in November 2022. My 2022 earnings weren't included in my initial calculation. I waited and waited for the automatic adjustment but nothing happened by December. I tried calling but could never get through - always busy signals or disconnects after hours on hold. I was about to give up when I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real SSA agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Once I got through to SSA, they processed my recalculation request right away. I received the adjustment about 3 weeks later with all my back pay included. My monthly benefit went up by $267!

Are you SURE your 2023 earnings weren't included? I thought mine weren't either but when I finally got someone on the phone they explained that my 2023 earnings actually LOWERED my SSDI payment because of how they calculate the average indexed monthly earnings (AIME). It has to do with how many years they count in your calculation. Sometimes adding another year with less earnings than your lifetime average can actually reduce your benefit. Might want to double-check.

My siatution was difrent but similer - I got SSDI in 2022 but worked in 2021 alot. They never included my 2021 earnings and I had to FIGHT for months to get them to fix it!! THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN!! They finally fixed it but I had to go to my congressmans office and file a complaint. Don't expect SSA to do ANYTHING right the first time!!!!!!

Just to clarify a technical point: the AERO process looks at your newly posted earnings to determine if they would result in a higher Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). For SSDI, they take your highest earning years (the number depends on your age when disabled) to calculate your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME). In your case, since you were working through most of 2023 until becoming disabled in December, that partial year of earnings is still likely to help your calculation, even though it wasn't a full year. The computation date for your claim was likely set to 2023, but without your 2023 earnings available yet. SSA should automatically do this recomputation as part of their annual AERO runs, but as others have mentioned, it doesn't hurt to contact them directly if you don't see an adjustment by December. If your benefit increases, you'll receive retroactive payments back to your entitlement date.

i just remembered something - when this happened to me they said something about only making these adjustments if the new calculation would increase ur benefit by at least a certain $ amount. think it had to make a difference of at least $1 or something? somebody correct me if i'm wrong

One tip nobody's mentioned: when you do contact SSA about this, ask for both the recomputation AND a PEBES (Pre-Entitlement Benefit Earnings Statement). This will show you exactly which years of earnings they're using in your calculation. Super helpful for understanding if they've included all your work years properly!