Is it true that if you are single (never married) and take your social security early, before your full retirement age, and you can still suspend you benefits when you reach you full retirement age? If you can suspend at your FRA, do you have to repay all the benefits you already received? Also, is your payment locked into the rate you received with early retirement?

Hi,

Yes, it's true that you can choose to start drawing your Social Security retirement benefits before full retirement age (FRA) and still suspend them when you reach FRA. You'd have that option regardless of your marital status, by the way. You wouldn't be required to repay any of the benefits that you received prior to suspending your benefits, but you would retain a reduction in your benefit rate for any months that you were paid benefits prior to FRA.

For example, say Jim (born in 1953) filed for reduced Social Security retirement benefits at age 62. Jim's full retirement age rate, or primary insurance amount (PIA), would have been $1000, but he receives a reduced rate of $750 in return for starting to draw at age 62. When Jim reaches his FRA of 66 in 2019, he voluntarily suspends his benefits in order to earn delayed retirement credits (DRC). If Jim doesn't reinstate his benefits prior to age 70, his age 70 benefit rate will then be 32% higher than it would have been if he had continued receiving his benefits from age 66 to 70. Thus, his benefit rate effective at age 70 would be $990 (i.e. $750 x 1.32).

If Jim wouldn't have drawn reduced benefits from age 62 to age 66, and instead waited until age 70 to file for his benefits, his benefit rate would have been 32% higher than his PIA, or $1320 (i.e. $1000 x 1.32).

Best, Jerry