Will my wife lose her SSDI if she starts pension before reaching FRA at 66 & 8 months?

Your wife can absolutely start receiving her pension now without affecting her SSDI benefits. SSDI has no income limits for unearned income like pensions - it only has restrictions on earned income from working. The conversion from SSDI to retirement at FRA is automatic and won't change her benefit amount. The only potential issue would be if this is a government pension from work where she didn't pay Social Security taxes, which could trigger the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) or Government Pension Offset (GPO). Was her previous employer a government agency where she didn't pay into Social Security?

Be careful!! My sister got hit with a huge overpayment notice when she started getting her pension and didnt tell SSA about it. They made her pay back like $9000!!! Make sure u report it just to be safe!!!

Let me help clarify this situation. There's an important distinction here: - SSI (Supplemental Security Income) has strict limits on ALL income types including pensions - SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) only limits EARNED income from working, not pensions Since your wife is receiving SSDI based on her work history, she can receive her pension without affecting her disability benefits. However, it's always good practice to report any significant financial changes to SSA, even if they don't affect benefits. Once she reaches her FRA (66 & 8 months), her benefits will automatically convert from disability to retirement benefits with no change in amount. The person who mentioned an overpayment notice was likely referring to an SSI situation, which is completely different from your wife's SSDI case.

I went through this EXACT situation last year. My husband was on SSDI for years and was about to hit FRA when he qualified for a private pension. We spent WEEKS trying to reach someone at SSA to confirm it wouldn't affect his benefits. Impossible to get through - always busy signals or disconnects after waiting forever. I found this service called Claimyr that got us connected to a real SSA agent in under 10 minutes! You can check them out at claimyr.com - they have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent confirmed that private pensions don't affect SSDI at all, and we were able to start both without problems. When my husband reached FRA, the conversion from SSDI to retirement was completely automatic - we didn't have to do anything. Hope this helps!

My dad was on disability and started gettin his pension at 65. Big mistake!!!! They took away half his benefits because of somethin called "double dipping". Better wait till full retirement age!!!

The SSA system is RIDICULOUS with how they explain these rules! I spent hours researching this when my husband was in a similar situation. Here's what I learned after fighting through their bureaucratic maze: Private pension = NO EFFECT on SSDI. Period. Government pension where no SS taxes paid = Possible WEP/GPO reduction Earned income from WORKING = Subject to substantial gainful activity limits with SSDI I can't BELIEVE how they make these rules so confusing that people are afraid to take money they're rightfully entitled to! And then try getting actual help from SSA... HA! Good luck ever reaching a human being who knows what they're talking about!

Based on everything shared, here's a summary to help you move forward: 1. Your wife can start her private pension immediately without affecting her SSDI 2. At her FRA (66 & 8 months), her SSDI automatically converts to retirement benefits at the same amount 3. It's good practice to report the pension to SSA, even though it won't affect her benefits 4. There are no income limits for unearned income (like pensions) with SSDI If you want complete peace of mind, using a service to connect with SSA directly (as someone suggested above) might be worth it just to get official confirmation. But based on SSA rules, there should be no issue with your wife collecting both her SSDI and private pension right away.

Just wanted to follow up and say I called SSA using that Claimyr service I mentioned. Got through in 7 minutes and confirmed everything people said here. Private pensions DO NOT affect SSDI benefits at all. The representative said it's a very common question and there's absolutely nothing to worry about. Hope this gives you additional peace of mind!

congrats on the pension! extra money is always nice 👍