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I turned 63 in January -- my husband is older and waited until FRA age and is now receiving his social security. I believe I have until April 30th to file and suspend -- I THINK I fall under the 6 month guidelines. I am traveling all this month so wondered if anyone knows whether I can file and suspend online or do I have to go to SS offic and do it in person? Thanks.
if you are 63 you can not file and suspend . those who are still eligible must be at least fra to do it . all you can get at 63 is your own benefit if you have a work record . .
if 1/2 your husbands is more then your full then you get that difference as an adder put on to yours . at 63 you have no options .
your husband has the ability to file and suspend but not you . he can delay his own until 70 but that has no bearing on you .
Last edited by mathjak107; 03-14-2016 at 03:51 PM..
I'm curious.
What would be the point of the OP doing a F&S, as a presumably lower benefit spouse ? Just don't file at all until you need the income, with the benefit of a higher, non-reduced, payment.
my wife is doing that . she filed at 62 and took an early benefit . she is suspending it now that she is fra . at 70 she will resume it . when she is 70 i will be 67 and 10 months . when she starts again i will file restricted application for 1/2 hers while delaying mine until 70 .
the goal is to make ourselves less dependent on the markets and interest rates for our income by both getting a bigger check .. hers will be bigger but not as much difference as i will see since she collected from 62 to 66 already .
Thanks for the answers. I guess I misread it -- I thought I could file now and suspend -- take my husbands 1/2 benefit at FRA and then revert to my higher rate at age 70. Geesh -- it seems so confusing to me. I guess I will just wait until my FRA and get the higher benefit as I am still working part time.
nope , you only get your own if under fra . no choice at that point . for you file and suspend is off the table . if you were at least 62 in 2015 you still have restricted application though as an option at fra . at fra you could take 1/2 his and let yours grow . in order to have that option you can't take an early benefit . since i am 63 and never filed , at 66 or older i can file restricted application for 1/2 my wife's
Last edited by mathjak107; 03-14-2016 at 04:48 PM..
It's worth pointing out however that yes one can file-and-suspend online. I did so last month. There's no box to check though. To file-and-suspend, you complete the online application and then in the Remarks section type in "I want to suspend my benefits."
A SS rep will call you and go through the application, including the remarks section, with you. You verify all the information, including that you want to suspend benefits. Easy peasy.
My wife was going to F&S after being laid-off from her last job, but, after talking to local SS Office, we both decided that she should not do that. SS Office told her that "opening, suspending and then re-opening" an SS benefit can be a real pain to do and not recommended at all. IOW, "Red Tape" can get involved and mess things up for the "re-opening" part. She turned 68 this last January and is now collecting her FRA benefit as well as working a nice salaried full-time job. Because of her FRA, she gets her full SS benefit with nothing taken from her. As for me, I was forced into SS Early Retirement at 62 due to UI running out and having an extremely hard time finding a job w/o a college degree and/or certification in the career I'd been working in. Taking Early SS was better than having no money coming in for me at all.
Anyway, one thing is for sure, it is VERY nice getting in the extra money (her SS) each month!
My wife was going to F&S after being laid-off from her last job, but, after talking to local SS Office, we both decided that she should not do that. SS Office told her that "opening, suspending and then re-opening" an SS benefit can be a real pain to do and not recommended at all. IOW, "Red Tape" can get involved and mess things up for the "re-opening" part.
The person who told her that is wrong. The procedures are ridiculously fast and easy. You can do them online in about 30 seconds, or by phone. There is no red tape, you don't even have to sign anything.
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What exactly is file & suspend?
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