Yes, suspending your Social Security benefits after you reach Full Retirement Age (FRA) can significantly increase your future payout. This strategy allows you to earn Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs). For every year you suspend, your future monthly benefit check permanently increases by 8%, a process that continues until you turn 70.
The primary conflict arises from a specific federal rule within the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. This law dictates that when you suspend your own retirement benefit, you also suspend payments for any spouse or child receiving benefits on your record. This creates an immediate and difficult financial trade-off: you must sacrifice your family’s current cash flow to secure a larger personal income stream in the future.
This decision is critical, as data shows that over half of all retirees claim their benefits at age 62, the earliest possible age. This action often locks them into a permanently reduced monthly payment for the rest of their lives. Understanding suspension offers a powerful alternative for those who can afford to wait.
Here is what you will learn:
- ✅ Master the Rules: Understand the exact process for suspending benefits and how it guarantees an 8% annual boost to your check.
- 💡 Identify Your Strategy: Discover if you are a good candidate by weighing your personal health, financial stability, and unique family needs.
- 👨👩👧 Protect Your Family: Learn how suspension directly impacts your spouse and children, and uncover the one major exception that applies to divorced spouses.
- ❌ Avoid Costly Mistakes: Sidestep common errors, like mishandling Medicare premiums, that could jeopardize your health coverage and financial security.
- 💰 See the Real-World Impact: Review clear examples showing how this strategy can add tens of thousands of dollars to your lifetime income.
Deconstructing the Strategy: The Core Components You Must Know
What Exactly is a “Voluntary Suspension”?
A voluntary suspension is a formal request you make to the Social Security Administration (SSA) to pause your retirement benefit payments. This is not the same as withdrawing your application. You can only request a suspension after you have reached your Full Retirement Age.
The goal is simple: stop your checks now to get bigger checks later. For every month your benefits are paused, you earn special credits. These credits permanently increase your monthly payment once you decide to start them again.
Finding Your Magic Number: What is Full Retirement Age (FRA)?
Your Full Retirement Age, or FRA, is the age at which you are eligible to receive your full, unreduced Social Security retirement benefit. This age is not the same for everyone; it is determined by the year you were born. The SSA sets this standard based on federal law.
Knowing your FRA is the essential first step because you cannot suspend your benefits even one day before you reach it.
| Year of Birth | Full Retirement Age (FRA) |
| 1943-1954 | 66 |
| 1955 | 66 and 2 months |
| 1956 | 66 and 4 months |
| 1957 | 66 and 6 months |
| 1958 | 66 and 8 months |
| 1959 | 66 and 10 months |
| 1960 and later | 67 |
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The Powerhouse Behind the Payout: Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs)
Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs) are the financial engine that drives this strategy. For every month you suspend your benefits past your FRA, the SSA adds a credit of 2/3 of 1% to your future benefit. This adds up to a powerful 8% increase for each full year you wait.
These credits stop accumulating when you turn 70. At that point, your benefits will automatically restart if you have not already asked for them. This means there is no financial advantage to delaying your claim past your 70th birthday.
The Ripple Effect: How Your Decision Impacts Your Family
The Post-2015 Rules: A New Landscape for Couples
Before 2015, a popular strategy called “File and Suspend” allowed one spouse to suspend their benefit while enabling the other spouse to claim a spousal benefit. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 eliminated this loophole for most people. This change fundamentally altered retirement planning for couples.
Today, the rule is direct and has significant consequences. When you suspend your retirement benefits, any spousal or dependent child benefits paid from your record also stop. This makes the decision a household-wide financial event, not just a personal one.
The Critical Exception: How Divorced Spouses Are Different
There is one major exception to the family-impact rule. If you have a divorced spouse who is collecting benefits based on your work record, their payments will continue even if you suspend your own.
To qualify, your ex-spouse must meet certain criteria. The marriage must have lasted at least 10 years, they must be at least 62, and they must be currently unmarried. This rule provides a layer of protection for divorced spouses that is not available to current spouses.
Real-World Scenarios: Seeing the Suspension Strategy in Action
Scenario 1: The “Do-Over” for Those Who Claimed Early
Many people claim benefits at 62 and later regret the permanently reduced payment. Suspension offers a powerful way to correct this. Consider Jim and Linda, who both claimed at 62.
Jim’s full benefit was $2,200, but by claiming at 62, he only receives $1,650. When Jim reaches his FRA of 66, he decides to suspend his benefit until age 70. This gives him a chance to “supersize” his future checks.
| Decision | Financial Outcome |
| Continue Early Benefits | Jim continues receiving $1,650 per month for life. If he passes away, Linda’s survivor benefit is based on this lower amount. |
| Suspend at FRA (66) until 70 | Jim’s benefit grows by 32% (8% per year for 4 years). His new monthly check at age 70 becomes $2,178 ($1,650 x 1.32). This higher amount is permanent and becomes the new base for Linda’s future survivor benefit, potentially adding nearly $100,000 to their combined lifetime income. |
Scenario 2: The Single Planner with a Nest Egg
Margaret is single, turning 67 (her FRA), and has a healthy IRA. Her Social Security benefit is $2,500 per month. She must decide whether to take the money now or suspend until 70 to get a larger, guaranteed income stream.
If she suspends, her benefit will grow by 24% to $3,100 per month. However, she must withdraw an extra $90,000 from her IRA over three years to cover the income gap. This exposes her portfolio to a significant risk.
| Choice | Portfolio Impact |
| Claim at FRA (67) | Margaret receives $30,000 per year from Social Security. This reduces the amount she needs to withdraw from her IRA, protecting her portfolio from market downturns and allowing it to grow longer. |
| Suspend Until 70 | Margaret must increase her IRA withdrawals. If the market drops during these first three years, she risks “sequence of returns risk,” which can permanently damage her portfolio’s long-term value. She trades investment risk for longevity insurance. |
Scenario 3: The Married Couple’s Survivor Strategy
The “Split Strategy” is a powerful tool for married couples where one spouse has significantly higher earnings. The goal is to maximize the survivor benefit, which is the payment the surviving spouse will live on after the first spouse passes away.
Consider a couple where the husband is the higher earner. The wife claims her own smaller benefit early, perhaps at 62 or her FRA. This provides the household with some cash flow. The husband, upon reaching his FRA, suspends his larger benefit until age 70.
| Spouse’s Action | Household Result |
| Wife (Lower Earner) Claims Early | The couple receives a steady, smaller income stream. This reduces the need to draw down their retirement savings as aggressively. |
| Husband (Higher Earner) Suspends at FRA | The husband’s benefit grows by 8% each year. When he passes away, the wife’s smaller benefit stops, and she steps up to receive his maximized survivor benefit for the rest of her life. This protects the surviving spouse from financial hardship in old age. |
The Official Process: How to Suspend and Restart Your Benefits
Making the Request to the SSA
The process of suspending your benefits is surprisingly simple. You do not need to fill out a complex form. You can make the request to the Social Security Administration in one of three ways :
- By phone
- In writing via mail
- In person at a local Social Security office
You can even make the request in advance. However, the suspension cannot begin any earlier than the month after you make the request.
When the Suspension Takes Effect
It is important to understand the timing. Social Security benefits are paid in the month after they are due. For example, your June benefit is paid to you in July.
If you contact the SSA in June to request a suspension, you will still receive your June payment in July. The suspension will officially begin with your July benefit, meaning your first missed check will be the one normally paid in August.
Restarting Your Payments
You can restart your benefits at any time before age 70. Just like the suspension request, you can simply tell the SSA you are ready to reinstate your payments. The reinstatement takes effect the month after your request.
If you suspend your benefits and do not make a request to restart them, the SSA will automatically reinstate your payments the month you turn 70. This is because you stop earning Delayed Retirement Credits at that age, so there is no further benefit to waiting.
Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Suspending Benefits
- Forgetting About Medicare Premiums. This is the most dangerous and common mistake. If your Medicare Part B premiums are normally deducted from your Social Security check, those deductions will stop during suspension. You will be billed directly by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). If you fail to pay these bills, you could lose your Medicare coverage.
- Misunderstanding the Impact on Your Spouse. Many people are shocked to learn that suspending their own benefit also stops their spouse’s benefit. Before 2015, this was not the case. You must plan for this household income gap.
- Trying to Suspend Before Full Retirement Age. You cannot do it. Voluntary suspension is only an option for those who have reached their FRA. The only “do-over” available before FRA is to withdraw your application entirely within the first 12 months, which requires you to repay every dollar you and your family received.
- Confusing Suspension with Withdrawal. These two options are completely different and serve different purposes. Understanding the distinction is critical to making the right choice for your situation.
| Feature | Voluntary Suspension | Application Withdrawal |
| When It’s Available | Only after you reach Full Retirement Age. | Only within the first 12 months of claiming benefits. |
| Repayment Required? | No. You do not have to repay any benefits you already received. | Yes. You must repay 100% of all benefits paid to you and your family on your record. |
| Primary Goal | To pause benefits to earn Delayed Retirement Credits and get a larger monthly check later. | To completely undo the decision to claim, as if it never happened. |
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- Believing It’s a “Guaranteed 8% Return.” Financial experts warn this is a seductive but incorrect way to think about the 8% annual increase. It is not an investment return like you would get from the stock market. It is an actuarial adjustment based on life expectancy. Your actual return is entirely dependent on how long you live. If you suspend for a year and pass away shortly after, your return is negative.
Weighing Your Options: Pros and Cons of Suspending Benefits
| Pros | Cons |
| Permanently Higher Monthly Income: Your benefit check is larger for the rest of your life. | Short-Term Income Gap: You must have other funds to live on while payments are paused. |
| Increased Inflation Protection: Annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are applied to a larger base amount, compounding your benefit growth. | Increased Investment Risk: You may have to sell investments during a market downturn to cover expenses (sequence of returns risk). |
| Maximizes Survivor Benefit: This is one of the best ways to provide for a surviving spouse, as they will inherit your largest possible benefit. | Longevity Risk: You risk passing away before your “break-even” age, meaning you would have received more money by not suspending. |
| Acts as Longevity Insurance: It provides a higher, guaranteed income stream, protecting you if you live much longer than expected. | Family Benefits Are Paused: Your spouse and dependent children will lose their benefits during the suspension period. |
| Simple and Flexible Process: Requesting a suspension or reinstatement is a straightforward process with the SSA. | Health Span Risk: You may have less energy or ability to enjoy the extra money in your late 70s and 80s compared to your 60s. |
A Practical Checklist: The Do’s and Don’ts of Suspension
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| Do honestly assess your health and family history of longevity. The strategy pays off most for those who live a long life. | Don’t suspend if you need the Social Security income to cover basic living expenses. Financial security now is paramount. |
| Do create a detailed budget to ensure you can comfortably cover all expenses from other sources during the income gap. | Don’t forget to set up automatic payments for your Medicare Part B premiums to avoid a lapse in health coverage. |
| Do discuss the decision thoroughly with your spouse, as it will directly impact their income and financial security. | Don’t think of the 8% increase as a risk-free investment. It is an insurance product you buy with your own foregone benefits. |
| Do consider this strategy if you are the higher earner in a marriage. It is a powerful way to protect your surviving spouse. | Don’t suspend your benefits if you also receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), as it will make you ineligible for SSI. |
| Do remember that you can restart your benefits at any time if your financial or health situation changes unexpectedly. | Don’t try to suspend before you reach your official Full Retirement Age. The SSA will not allow it. |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: Is suspending my benefits the same as withdrawing my application? A: No, they are very different. Suspension pauses payments after FRA with no repayment required. Withdrawal happens within 12 months of claiming and requires you to repay all benefits you and your family received.
Q2: If I suspend my benefits, do I have to pay back what I’ve already received? A: No. If you request a voluntary suspension after reaching your Full Retirement Age, you are not required to repay any of the benefits that you have already been paid.
Q3: How does suspending my benefit affect my spouse? A: Yes, it affects them directly. When you suspend your benefits, any spousal or child benefits paid on your record are also suspended for the same period. The only exception is for a divorced spouse.
Q4: Will my benefit still get cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) while it’s suspended? A: Yes. COLAs are applied to your base benefit amount each year, even during suspension. When you restart payments, your new, higher amount will be calculated from this larger, inflation-adjusted base.
Q5: What if I suspend my benefits and then suddenly need the money? A: Yes, you can restart them. You can ask the SSA to reinstate your benefits at any time before age 70. Your payments will begin again the month after you make the request.
Q6: Can I suspend my benefits before I reach my Full Retirement Age? A: No. The voluntary suspension option is only available to individuals who have reached their Full Retirement Age. It cannot be done even one day sooner.
Q7: Do I have to do anything when I turn 70? A: No. If your benefits are still suspended when you turn 70, the Social Security Administration will automatically restart them for you. You stop earning credits at 70, so there is no advantage to waiting longer. Sources and related content