A final way to “undo” early Social Security withdrawal

If you retired earlier than 66 and draw less than 100 percent in Social Security benefits, there are three ways to “undo” your decision, according to Market Watch.

The first two ways have been outlined in our last two blogs on Monday and Friday.  In this blog, we will reveal to you the last and final exception to what most people think is a permanent, lifetime reduction.

Exception number three is to suspend your Social Security payments.

To maximize Social Security payments for couples, you may have already heard of “file and suspend” strategy.  But even if you aren’t married, you can suspend your payments anytime from age 66 to 70, even if you have gotten Social Security for years.

Let’s say that you filed at 62 because you needed the money. You receive 75 percent payments for the next four years. But now you have some retirement money, and you wish your payments were 100 percent. You could suspend your payments at 66, potentially all the way to age 70.

With four years of growth at eight percent per year, your payments are at the 99 percent level when they restart at 70.

To get higher future payments, any worker can suspend his or her retirement payments from Full Retirement Age (currently 66) to age 70.

If you or someone you know needs help with SSD benefits, contact the Social Security lawyers at Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin.