Most Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries who are currently active began claiming their payments in recent years, or at least after May 1997. These payments are grouped together each month based on their date of birth because the system requires staggered payments: if all 7.3 million payments were sent at once, there would be an overflow and we’d be facing a blockage.
SSDI beneficiaries are workers who paid Social Security taxes and, due to a condition or disability, are unable to perform Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA). Before claiming disability benefits, they must have worked long enough to accumulate a minimum amount of “work credits.”
How many work credits do I need to claim SSDI?
The general rule, for beneficiaries over 31 years of age, is to have accumulated at least 40 work credits, of which 20 must have been earned in the last 10 years, before the onset of disability. This is equivalent to having worked at least five of the last 10 years before the disabling condition occurred.
For workers 24 years of age or younger, they must have at least 6 credits, equivalent to 1.5 years of work, earned in the three years prior to the onset of disability.
Those between the ages of 24 and 31 must have worked half of the time between age 21 and the time they became disabled. For example, if you became disabled at age 30, you need about 8 credits (two years of work).
From 31 to 42 years old, between 20 and 40 credits are required, increasing progressively according to age, with at least half of them obtained in the last 10 years.
SSDI Payment Dates for June 2025
The SSDI payment dates for June 2025, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA) calendar, are based on the beneficiary’s date of birth and are as follows:
- June 11: Beneficiaries with a date of birth between the 1st and 10th of the month
- June 18: Beneficiaries with a date of birth between the 11th and 20th of the month
- June 25: Beneficiaries with a date of birth between the 21st and 31st of the month
If you receive SSDI and SSI at the same time, your SSI payment is sent on May 30 (earlier because June 1 falls on a Saturday), and your SSDI payment is sent on June 3 if you began receiving benefits before May 1997.
The maximum SSDI amount in 2025 is $4,018, but it’s a fairly high amount reserved for a small group of beneficiaries who earned high incomes and worked for at least 35 years. For workers who reach full retirement age (FRA) while receiving SSDI payments, the amount automatically converts to their retirement payment, which will remain active for life.
The average is much lower, around $1,580 in 2025, and is closer to what more than 90% of federal recipients receive.