Hi Larry. I read that even after the changes made to Social Security in 2016, those who want to delay starting their Social Security until age 70 in order to get the delayed retirement bonus should still file and suspend. The reason is to protect your eligibility for back benefits if your circumstances change before you reach age 70. For example, if serious health issues afflict you in your late 60s, you might decide it is no longer worth delaying your Social Security until age 70. You could then “unsuspend” your benefits and receive back pay benefits (but now only for 6 months, not all the way back to age 66). Is this true?

Hi. No. It sounds like what you read is apparently wrong. The 2015 Social Security amendments essentially eliminated all of the previous advantages of the file and suspend strategy. Since April 30th 2016, if you file for and suspend your benefits the earliest that you can "unsuspend", or reinstate, them is the month after the month you make the request for reinstatement (https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-01160).

As a matter of fact, filing for and suspending your benefits could be disadvantageous in the scenario presented in your question. For example, let's say Bob files for and suspends his benefits when he reaches full retirement age (FRA). Then, on Bob's 69th birthday he finds out that he has a terminal illness. The earliest that Bob could "unsuspend" his benefits and be paid would be the month after the month in which he turned 69. He could not be paid back pay for any of the months that his benefits were suspended.

Conversely, let's say Bob in our example above did not file for and suspend his benefits at FRA. Bob was planning to wait until age 70 to apply, but he changes his mind when he finds out about his illness. Since Bob hadn't previously applied for benefits, he could then claim up to 6 months of retroactive benefits when he does apply. So, if he applies in the month that he reaches age 69 he could be paid starting with the month he reached age 68 & 1/2, which would be 7 months earlier than the first month he could be paid if he had filed for and suspended his benefits.

By the way, starting benefits early because of health issues can be disadvantageous when a spouse is involved. Widows can only be paid up to the higher of a) the deceased worker's full monthly benefit rate, or b) 82.5% of the worker's primary insurance amount (PIA). A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA). Therefore, if a worker starts drawing benefits early rather than at age 70 they can potentially be leaving their widow(er) with a much lower survivor benefit rate for life.

Best, Jerry