i am currently receiving long term disability payments through my still current employer, although i am pretty certain i will be terminated at the end of this month as it will be one year since my non work related medical issues started. i started collecting ss widows benefit january of 2016, as i had turned 60 in the fall of 2015, my questions are these: if my long term disability goes over the allowable amount $15, 600 (approx) will i have to suspend my widow benefit, alert social security somehow? i've already been contacted by the group managing the long term disability payments who are chomping at the bit to have me file for social security disability, as they would only then be responsible for paying the difference between what i'm now receiving and ss payment amount-which is lower. i am assuming that i would not be able to receive my widows benefit in addition to ss disability, but can it continue during what can be a lengthy application process? any guidance will be appreciated, asking social security these questions is futile. thanks so much

Hi,

First off, your long-term disability benefits do not count toward Social Security's earnings test, so you have no worries on that score. Also, your widow's benefits would continue to be paid during the application and potential appeals process if you file for SS disability benefits.

If you file and are approved for Social Security disability benefits, you will not get both your SS disability benefit and your entire reduced widow's benefit. You would instead get your full SS disability benefit, plus an excess widow's benefit, provided that the widow's benefit is higher than your SS disability benefit. Since you have been disabled for close to a year now, it's possible that you would be eligible for some retroactive SS disability benefits, although that may result in an offset of your long-term disability payments. Depending on the terms of the policy, it's possible that you could be required to pay back some of what you've previously been paid in that event.

From a purely Social Security perspective, there is likely no downside to filing for disability benefits, and could be a substantial advantage. Social Security disability benefits are unreduced, whereas your widow's benefits are reduced by around 27% because you started them just after you reached age 60. If you file and are approved for SS disability benefits, particularly if it is determined that you qualified for disability benefits in the same month or prior to when you applied for widow's benefits, it could mean that you'd not only get higher total monthly benefits now, but also in the future. There is a special formula for calculating widow's benefits when the beneficiary is also entitled to SS disability benefits, and one of the provisions is that the reduction for age assessed for starting widow's benefits prior to full retirement age (FRA) is eliminated at FRA. However, this special formula does not apply if the month of SS disability entitlement is later than the month of entitlement to widow's benefits. Even though you are not currently drawing SS disability benefits, SS law permits up to 12 months of potential retroactive entitlement, so it's possible that you could become entitled to SS disability with a month of entitlement prior to January of 2016, which would make the special formula I mentioned above applicable in your case.

One other potential consideration is that entitlement to SS disability benefits also results in Medicare starting 2 years after the first month of disability entitlement. Otherwise, Medicare eligibility does not begin until age 65.

Best, Jerry