Early Retirement & Social Security Disability Benefits

Example - You were born in 1956, and your full retirement age is 66 and 4 months. You applied for SSI disability benefits on your 61st birthday. You began receiving early retirement as of your 62nd birthday. Your early retirement monthly benefit amount was reduced by 26.67%. Your full retirement monthly benefit amount is $1200. Your early retirement monthly benefit amount is $880 ($1200 - 26.67% = $880). Social Security found you disabled on your 63rd birthday.

Social Security will consider your early retirement monthly amount of $880 as unearned income. You have no other earned or unearned income.

The maximum SSI disability monthly individual amount is $967 in 2025. Your state pays you a monthly supplement of $45. Your SSI disability monthly amount is $1,012. Social Security will calculate your monthly benefit amounts as follows:

1. $880 (Early retirement amount - unearned income)
2. -$20 (An income amount the Social Security does not count)
3. =$860 (Countable income)


4. $967 (SSI federal benefit rate)
5. +$45 (State supplement)
6. =$1,012 (SSI amount)


7. $1,012 (SSI amount)
8. -$880 (Countable income)
9. =$132 (Your SSI disability monthly amount)

As to your monthly benefit amount, you will receive both your early retirement monthly amount of $880 and the SSI disability monthly amount of $132 as long as you are disabled.

As to your back pay amount, Social Security will pay you 7 months of benefits at $1,012 - the 12 months from your 61st birthday until early retirement began at age 62. Social Security will also pay you 12 months of benefits at $132 - the 12 months from your 62nd birthday until you were awarded SSI disability benefits at age 63 ($1,012 SSI disability monthly benefit amount minus the $880 early retirement monthly benefit amount you had been receiving).

Example. You receive early retirement benefits and and later receive SSDI disability benefits.

You will not receive both amounts. You will receive your SSDI disability benefit amount. Your early retirement benefit amount is less than your full retirement benefit amount (because you took your benefits early). Your full retirement benefit amount is the same as your SSDI disability benefit amount. If you receive early retirement benefits, and you become entitled to SSDI disability benefits, you will get the higher of two benefit amounts - the SSDI disability benefit amount. Social Security will stop your early retirement benefits, and instead pay you your SSDI disability benefits. Therefore, you will receive a higher Social Security benefit amount. If you continue to receive your Social Security disability benefits until full retirement age, your Social Security disability benefit will simply transition to your full Social Security retirement benefit.

You were born in 1956, and your full retirement age is 66 and 4 months. You applied for SSDI disability benefits on your 61st birthday alleging disability since your 60th birthday. You filed for early retirement on your 62nd birthday. Your full retirement benefit monthly amount is $1,197. Your early retirement benefit amount has been reduced by 26.67% from your full retirement benefit amount. Your early retirement monthly amount is $878 ($1,197 - 26.67% = $878). You were awarded SSDI disability benefits since age 60 on your 63rd birthday. You SSDI disability monthly benefit amount is $1,197. Just as with all SSDI recipients, you will receive four SSDI benefits:

1. Monthly benefits,
2. Back pay,
3. Medicare (medical insurance), and
4. Earnings freeze.

As to your monthly benefit amount, Social Security will stop your early retirement monthly benefit of $878, and start your SSDI disability monthly benefit of $1,197 which will continue until you reach your full retirement age of 66 and 4 months. At full retirement, your monthly benefit amount will continue to be $1,197 because your full retirement monthly benefit amount and your SSDI disability monthly benefit amount are the same.

As to your back pay amount, Social Security will pay you 19 months of benefits at $1,197 - the 19 months from your 60th birthday until early retirement began at age 62 (Social Security has a strange rule that it does not pay you for the first five months of your disability). Social Security will also pay you 12 months of benefits at $319 - the 12 months from your 62nd birthday until you were awarded SSDI disability benefits at age 63 ($1,197 SSDI disability monthly benefit amount minus the $878 early retirement monthly benefit amount you had been receiving).