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Video: Can I Stop and Restart Social Security Benefits?
If you are in your first year of collecting retirement benefits, you can apply to the Social Security Administration (SSA) for what it calls a withdrawal of benefits.
Why would you want to do that? Say you filed for Social Security as early as possible, at age 62, accepting a reduced benefit because you needed the money.
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Then suppose you got an unexpected windfall — an inheritance, perhaps, or a new, higher-paying job. Now, you can afford to wait until you are older and can collect a larger benefit.
Withdrawal is typically a tool for people who claimed Social Security early. Once you reach full retirement age (FRA), you have another option to build bigger Social Security payments — a suspension of benefits.
Here’s what to know about temporarily stopping Social Security.
When can I request a withdrawal of benefits?
Timing is key. Social Security will let you withdraw your original application for retirement benefits only once, and it must be within 12 months of your first payment.
To request a withdrawal, fill out form SSA-521, which you can download from the Social Security website. You can submit the form online, along with supporting documents, if you have a My Social Security account or mail it to your local Social Security office.
What are the consequences?
If you opt for a withdrawal, Social Security will treat it as if you never applied for benefits in the first place. You’ll have to repay every dollar you received before your application can be finalized.
That means paying back:
- All your monthly retirement payments.
- Any family benefits your spouse or children have collected. They must consent in writing to the withdrawal.
- Any money withheld from your payments — for example, to pay Medicare premiums if you’re already enrolled in the health care program.
The SSA-521 form includes a question asking if you want to keep your Medicare benefits. You can, but you will have to start paying the Medicare Part B premiums directly to Medicare, since it can no longer be deducted from your Social Security payment.
If you decide to stop your Medicare coverage, you’ll also need to pay back any medical expenses that Medicare Part A covered while you were receiving Social Security.
When you want to return to Medicare, you may face a coverage gap unless you qualify for a special enrollment period. You may still need to fill out additional forms to re-enroll.
Can I change my mind?
Yes. You have 60 days from the date the SSA approves your application to cancel the request for a withdrawal of benefits.
The cancellation must be in writing, be signed by you or someone authorized to sign for you, provide the reason for the cancellation, and state that you want to confirm that your original application for retirement benefits is reinstated. This request must be mailed or dropped off at your local SSA field office.
When can I request a suspension of benefits?
If you’ve been getting retirement benefits for more than a year, your window for withdrawal of benefits has closed.
However, once you reach full retirement age, you have a different option for pausing and boosting your payment: You can request a suspension of benefits. Everyone born in 1959 will reach their full retirement age of 66 and 10 months by the end of October 2026. Full retirement age is 67 for those born in 1960 or later.
If you can afford to forgo your Social Security payments for a few years, suspending your benefits might make long-term financial sense:
- During a suspension, you earn delayed retirement credits, which increase your eventual payment by two-thirds of 1 percent for each suspended month, or 8 percent for each full suspended year.
- Unlike with a withdrawal of benefits, you don’t have to repay anything to the SSA.
- Suspension is flexible. You can ask Social Security to resume payments at any time until you turn 70. If you haven’t done it by then, Social Security will automatically reinstate your benefits at the higher amount.
You can request a suspension by phone, in writing or in person at your local Social Security office.
Keep in mind
- While your retirement benefits are suspended, your spouse and children cannot collect family benefits on your work record. Similarly, you cannot collect spousal benefits on your wife’s or husband’s record if your retirement payments are suspended.
- You cannot collect retroactive benefits for the months your payments were suspended. Retroactivity is available only for an initial retirement benefits claim if it’s made after full retirement age.
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