Q: I’m 67 years old and I’ve been receiving benefits since I was 66. I’m working part time and want to suspend these benefits; however the SSA office told me I could have done this before I turned 67, but not now. Could they be incorrect?
A: Yes, they are incorrect. Once you have reached your full retirement age, you are allowed to suspend your benefits at any time (up to age 70). In an earlier response to you, I speculated that the SS employee had confused “withdrawing your application for benefits” with a “voluntary suspension of benefits”. Wanting to be 100% sure of my answer, I checked with Social Security expert Robert White. Mr. White’s response to me is pasted in below.
You are correct. I would guess that this was a communications issue as his inquiry may have covered both suspension and withdrawal. When he re-contacts Social Security instruct him to request a “voluntary suspension of benefits”.
The following reference might also be useful in your response.
POMS GN 02409.110, Conditions for Voluntary Suspension, states the following in section B1: “Voluntary suspension can apply for any month after 1999 beginning with the month FRA is attained and ending with the month before the month age 70 is attained.”
