Sir, I retired at 62 and now I am 70. When I retired, I was found to be disable by the SSA and a letter from the SSA was sent indicating this. I went to my appointment and the agent informed me, it was not necessary to take this benefit and stay at the regular rate. Now I find that maybe I should have take the disable benefit. Can you explain if I should have taken the disable benefit and if it would be worth any more financially to me today.

Hi. Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits are calculated based on 100% of a person's primary insurance amount (PIA). A person's PIA is also equal to the Social Security retirement benefit rate they'd receive if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA). So, in other words, qualifying for SSDI benefits basically entitles a person to start drawing their full unreduced benefit rate (i.e. their PIA) without having to wait until FRA to start collecting.

On the other hand, if a person files for and collects Social Security retirement benefits instead of SSDI benefits prior to their FRA then their monthly benefit rate is permanently reduced for age to an amount that's lower than their PIA. Therefore, if a person is eligible for SSDI benefits prior to their FRA it's almost always better to draw those benefits as opposed to drawing reduced retirement benefits.

I don't know what actually happened in your case, but if you applied for SSDI benefits and if your claim was approved then your benefit rate should not have been reduced for age for any months prior to your FRA that you were entitled to SSDI benefits. If you didn't apply for SSDI benefits, though, it would be too late to do so now. SSDI benefits stop being paid at a person's FRA, and their SSDI benefits convert to regular Social Security retirement benefits. SSDI benefits can only be paid for up to 12 months retroactively, so since you are more than 12 months past your FRA month you couldn't now claim SSDI benefits.

I would suggest calling Social Security to see if you actually did apply for and were awarded SSDI benefits. Only Social Security would have access to those records.

Best, Jerry