I want to take a lump sum amount as described on page 185 of your book Get What's Yours. I am turning 69 June 24 2017. I have been receiving Spouse benefits beginning May 2015 and was retroed back to June 2014. I did not sign up for SS till age 66. I was still working thru April 2014 wherein I was layed off. I delayed filing for SS benefits intending to hold off till age 70. Please advise how to proceed. SS local office is not very competent on this front.
Sharon

Hi Sharon,

I'm not sure what you mean. I assume that the lump sum option you refer to is the one for people who filed and suspended their retirement benefits prior to April 30 2016 (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/suspendfaq.html). People who did so have the option of giving up the delayed retirement credits they would have earned and receiving full back pay instead.

But, you say that you are receiving spousal benefits now, so you must not have filed for your retirement benefits yet. If you had filed and suspended your retirement benefits, it would have prevented you from receiving full spousal benefits.

So, if I'm understanding your situation correctly, you could file for your retirement benefits now and elect up to 6 months of back pay, but you would lose your spousal benefits for those months. And, you would not earn delayed retirement credits for the months that you receive retirement benefits instead of spousal benefits. It would probably be better to follow your original plan and wait until age 70 to switch to your own record. You may want to use the maximization software available on this website in order to determine your best course of action.

Best, Jerry