Q: I am 61 years old. I have been getting disability since age 58. I am just wondering: When will I be able to get regular Social Security?

A: Here we go again! You are getting "regular Social Security!" There is nothing irregular about Social Security disability benefits.

But I know what you are really asking. You do not want to know when you will get "regular" Social Security. You want to know when you will get Social Security retirement benefits.

And that happens when you turn 66. At that point, you will be switched from Social Security disability benefits to Social Security retirement benefits. But the changeover will be largely transparent to you because your payment rate will remain the same. Or to put that another way, the disability benefit rate equals a full-retirement rate.

The switch to retirement benefits really is just a bookkeeping move for the Social Security Administration. Once you reach that age, your benefits will be funded from the "Old Age and Survivors Insurance" trust fund, not the "Disability Insurance" trust fund from which your benefits are currently being paid.

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If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has the answer. Contact him at thomas.margenau@comcast.net. To find out more about Tom Margenau and to read past columns and see features from other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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