I am 63 years old and has been receiving SSDI. Recently I started working again while on SSDI and plan to work for longer than 9 months while receiving about $4,000 each month. I understand that after 9 months the social security will stop issuing social security disability checks. However, according to SSA I would still be considered disabled as SSA has not had a chance to reevaluate if my disability ended. When SSA will stop sending me the disability checks - -would i be able to switch to survivor social security payments (my wife passed away many years back) or as an alternative to my social security retirement benefits. Or Social security would preclude me from doing so -- as I am still considered disabled by SSA even though I am no longer receiving SSDI payments.

Hi,

If your Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits stop due to your work and earnings, you would be eligible for an extended period of eligibility (EPE) that lasts for at least 3 years after your trial work period (TWP) ends. During the EPE, your SSDI benefits are suspended but not terminated.

If you file for survivor benefits during your EPE, your survivor rate would be calculated as though your SSDI benefits were still being paid. So, the only way that you could collect survivor benefits during your EPE is if your survivor rate exceeds your SSDI rate. And, even then, you could only qualify the amount that your survivor rate exceeds your SSDI rate, not the full survivor rate.

However, since you're at least age 62 you could file for reduced Social Security retirement benefits on your own record. The problem with that is that your retirement benefits could be subject to withholding until you reach full retirement age (FRA) based on the Social Security earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html). In 2020 for example, Social Security would need to withhold $1 of your retirement benefits for each $2 that your earnings exceed $18,240. So, whether or not you could actually be paid any Social Security retirement benefits depends on your benefit rate and your yearly earnings. By the way, the earnings test would also apply to any survivor benefits you might qualify for prior to your FRA.

If your benefit rate is high enough to permit payment of at least some Social Security retirement benefits in spite of your earnings, then it would probably be advantageous to claim the retirement benefits. Even though Social Security retirement benefits are reduced for age if you start drawing them prior to FRA, that reduction would be removed when you reach FRA provided that your EPE continues at least until you reach FRA.

Best, Jerry