I read Mr. Kotlikoff's Forbes.com article "The Huge Payoff from Claiming Social Security Wisely" dated July 29, 2016. Case No. 2 closely resembles the situation for my husband and me. The article states that Liz, the lower earning spouse who claims at 62, could suspend her benefits at 66 and restart at a 32% higher rate at age 70. My understanding is that under the new Social Security rules, it is no longer possible to suspend and restart benefits. Am I wrong?

Hi,

Hi, my husband took SS at 62 on June 15, 2015. approx. $1500/mo DOB 06/1953 He receives a Pension also. approx. $1500/mo. Is he eligible for suspending his SS at this time (July 11, 2016)? I am 65, but had been receiving SS Disability since 1994. approx. $900/mo with Medicare Part A & B DOB 12/1950. Can you help us reduce our income: he has to pay COBRA Health Ins at $2100/quarterly + deductible & co-pays. until he's 65. Lowering our AGI would help us under ACA Law Thanks, Rebecca

Larry,

My husband started receiving SS at 65 and 8 months. He is now
69. He has and is still working full time. Would his benefits increase if he
suspended SSC benefits and restarted in 6-12 months? He will be 70
in 2017.

Your husband can and probably should suspend immediately. He'll boost his benefit by 8/12 or .67 percent for each month he suspends between now and 70.

best, Larry

I'm 68 and took my ss at age 62. is there anything in your program than can help me to get more money? best, Ralph

Hi Ralph,

If you just turned 68, you can suspend your retirement benefit immediately and restart it again at 70 at a 16 percent permanently higher value. But if you turned 68 some months ago, the benefit to suspending will be smaller. Our program will calculated exactly what you gain from suspending on an annual as well as lifetime basis.

I started receiving benefits at 65 back on 1/2/2015. I am going back to work. Can I suspend payments and start rebuilding and increasing my earned income and retire again at 70 with a bigger benefits payment? best, Tom

Eric: I’ll be 69 in April and have held off taking benefits up to this point. I did a calculation to see what the break-even point would be at starting times of 66, 67, 68, 69 and 70. It turns out that all of them reach the break-even point at about age 80 to 81, at which time I would have made up the “leave it on the table” money and start coming out ahead with higher benefits (even factoring in the interest income lost).