You may feel grateful to receive necessary financial aid with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. However, you may hold your breath, so to speak, for when these routine payments are supposed to end. Initially, you may assume it will end once you run out of the funds you contributed to Social Security through your paycheck throughout your career. However, this is not necessarily the case. So please read on to discover how long you can expect to collect SSDI benefits for and how one of the seasoned attorneys in SSDI eligibility in New Jersey, at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur, can ensure you receive them for as long as you are entitled to.
How long can I realistically collect SSDI benefits for?
Simply put, you may continue to receive SSDI benefits so long as you continue to have an eligible physical, mental, or emotional disability. In other words, if your health condition is serious enough that you still cannot return to work and maintain substantial gainful activity (SGA).
With this, the Social Security Administration (SSA) may not just take your word for it, but rather, conduct routine reviews of your case. The frequency of this continuing disability review may depend on the severity of your health condition and its likelihood for improvement, ranging from every six months to every seven years.
Here, a disability examiner and a doctor may ask questions regarding any work you may have participated in since collecting SSDI benefits, and ask for updated medical reports on your most recent treatments. They may go as far as requesting you attend a special examination, which the SSA may cover the cost of.
Besides these continuing disability reviews, you must take it upon yourself to report any changes to your situation to the SSA. This may be if you begin working while receiving these disability payments, start collecting other disability benefits, start receiving a pension not covered by Social Security, and more.
When will my SSDI benefits payments be suspended or stopped?
Besides the SSA determining you are no longer suffering from an eligible disability, you may stop receiving SSDI benefits payments once you reach retirement age. This is because you may start collecting Social Security retirement benefits instead.
In addition, these payments may be temporarily suspended at times during the 36-month re-entitlement period after you complete your 9-month trial work period (TWP). This may be for months in which your earnings reach a substantial level.
As of 2025, the SGA is set at $16,20 or more per month, or $2,700 or more per month if you are blind. Then, after these 36 months, if your earnings have consistently exceeded this threshold, the SSA may ultimately decide to terminate your SSDI benefits.
Do not let your legal initiatives stop after reading this blog. The next action you should take is calling us at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur and retaining the services of one of the competent attorneys in SSDI eligibility in New Jersey. Rest assured, we will take the reins from here on out.
