Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe your software is for SSA retirement benefits and does not deal with SSA disability benefits. I'm trying to find someone who can explain the process of converting from disability to retirement benefits. All the SSA says is this happens automatically at FRA. But, prior to becoming disabled, I was planning to wait until age 70 to claim retirement as, among other things, my wife is 8 years younger then me. Anyway, I'm trying to find some SSA expert who can tell me if there are strategies to delay the conversion from disability to retirement benefits, even if, for example, it might mean going off of disability from age 67 to 70 or something. If you can't help with this, can you refer me to any peers that might be able to? Thanks.

Hi. You can't delay the conversion of Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits to regular Social Security retirement benefits. That happens automatically when a person who's receiving SSDI benefits reaches full retirement age (FRA).

However, if you're receiving SSDI when you reach FRA you can choose to voluntarily suspend your retirement benefits anytime from FRA to age 70 in order to earn delayed retirement credits (DRC). DRCs increase a person's benefit rate by 2/3rds of 1% per month, or 8% per year, so if you suspend your benefits for the entire time from your FRA to age 70 it would increase your resulting benefit rate by 24% to 32% depending on the age at which you reach FRA. FRA can be any age from 66 to 67 depending on a person's year of birth (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0409.htm).

Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) is capable of analyzing a person's options with regard voluntarily suspending benefits at FRA or later, so you may want to consider using the software to help you determine your best strategy for maximizing benefits.

Best, Jerry