Can You Suspend Social Security and Restart Benefits Later?

Andy Markowitz and Tracy Thompson

Updated April 04, 2025

AARP

Reviewed by

Stephen Richardson

Comments

En español

Published September 12, 2022

/ Updated April 04, 2025

If you are in your first year of collecting retirement benefits, you can apply to Social Security for what the agency 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.

Then suppose you got an unexpected windfall: an inheritance or a new, higher-paying job. You’re now able to wait until you are older and can collect a larger benefit.

How quickly do I have to apply for 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 the date your first payment occurred.

You start the process by filling out Social Security form SSA-521 and sending the completed form to your local Social Security office.

What are the consequences of withdrawal of benefits?

If you opt for a withdrawal, Social Security will treat the situation 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 includes:

Your monthly retirement payments.
Any family benefits your spouse or children collected. They also must consent in writing to the withdrawal.
Any money withheld from your payments, for example, to pay your Medicare premium if you’re older than 65 or otherwise qualify.

The SSA-521 form includes a question asking if you want to keep your Medicare benefits. You can if you want to, but you will have to pay the Medicare Part B premium — or on rare occasions a Part A premium — directly to Medicare.

If you decide to stop your Medicare coverage, you’ll also need to reimburse 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. And you still may have to fill out additional forms to reenroll.

To save on the premiums, if you have coverage from your own or your spouse’s employer, you may be able to temporarily drop Part B later. But you’ll need to submit Form CMS-1763 separately to the Social Security Administration (SSA) after your Social Security withdrawal has been approved.

If you change your mind about a withdrawal of benefits, you have 60 days from the date officials approve your withdrawal to cancel the request. The cancellation must be in writing, be signed by you or a proper applicant, provide the reason for the cancellation, and state that you want a determination on your eligibility and entitlement for the original filed application. This request must be mailed or dropped off at your local SSA field office.

When can I request 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 second option. You can request a suspension of benefits. Everyone born in 1958 will reach full retirement age, 66 and 8 months old, by August 2025. Those born in 1959 will be at full retirement age at 66 and 10 months. Full retirement age is 67 for those born in 1960 and later.

A long-term benefit boost. If you can afford to do without your retirement benefit 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 suspended year.

Unlike with withdrawal of benefits, you don’t have to repay anything to the SSA. When you resume collecting Social Security, you will have locked in a higher monthly payment for life.

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

Related benefits also suspended. 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.

No retroactive payout. 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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Andy Markowitz is a writer and editor for AARP, covering Social Security and fraud. He is a former editor of The Prague Post and Baltimore City Paper.

Tracy Thompson is a journalist and editor who has worked for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Washington Post. She is the author of three books and lives with her family in the Washington, D.C., suburbs.

Stephen Richardson is a retired New England regional communications director for the Social Security Administration and AARP consultant on Social Security benefit issues. He began his career with the agency in 1982 as a claims representative.

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Can I stop Social Security benefits and restart them?

You have options for withdrawal of benefits, suspension of benefits depending on how long you’ve been receiving retirement payments

In this story

How quickly do I have to apply for withdrawal of benefits?

What are the consequences of withdrawal of benefits?

When can I request suspension of benefits?

Keep in mind