Hello,

I am desperately need someone advice here because the SSA gave me the wrong information. I am 68, and receiving my benefit since December, last year. Now, I would like to voluntarily suspend receiving it because I went back to work, and I want to earn more delayed retirement credit until age 70. When I called SSA.gov they said I can only make withdrawal of the application once, and repay what I received so far. I am screaming for help! I printed out their web page regarding to this, and it clearly says I can voluntarily suspend it just by calling them.

Thank you

Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth. You're correct that you're allowed to voluntarily suspend your benefits in order to earn delayed retirement credits (DRC). You are supposed to be able to request voluntary suspension either verbally or in writing, but I would definitely recommend the latter since you've already apparently been misinformed by someone at Social Security (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0202409110).

The earliest month that you can suspend your benefits is the month after the month of your request. So, if you submit a request in September 2021 for example, October 2021 is the first month that your benefits can be suspended. I would suggest submitting your request on a form SSA-795 (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-795.pdf) to your nearest Social Security office, which you can locate using Social Security's website: https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.jsp. You might also want to submit your request via certified mail.

Also, if you continue to have problems dealing with Social Security you should consider contacting the offices of either your U.S. congressional representative or one of your U.S. senators.

Best, Jerry