Hi Larry,

I started taking my SS at age 62 & am now 65 1/2. I continued to work & earn the approved amount set by the SSA during this time. I would like to suspend my SS & start earning more money during this economic downturn to make ends meet. What impact does this have on my SS benefits & am I required to payback what I have withdrawn from 62 to current age or from January until I request the suspension? My current employer has offered to increase my pay. I will be 66 in January 2022.

Hi. You aren't allowed to voluntarily suspend your benefits prior to the month that you reach your full retirement age (FRA). Unless you were born on January 1st, it sounds like your FRA is likely be May 2022. If you were born on January 1 1956, though, your FRA would be February 2022. In order to voluntarily suspend your benefits, you'll need to contact Social Security no later than the month that you want the benefit suspension to begin.

Since you won't reach your FRA before the end of 2021, Social Security would need to withhold $1 of your 2021 benefits for each $2 that you earn in excess of $18,960 this year. You wouldn't have to pay back any of the benefits you were paid for years prior to 2021 no matter how much you earn this year or in future years.

In 2022, the exempt amount of earnings will be higher for you. The exact amount won't be known until later this year, but people turning FRA in 2021 were allowed to earn up to $50,520 without losing any benefits. And, only earnings in the months prior to the month you reach FRA count toward the limit. There's no limit on how much you can earn starting with the month you reach FRA. Therefore, unless there's a huge jump in your earnings you'll probably be eligible to be paid your benefits for all months in 2022, although you could voluntarily suspend your benefits starting with the month you reach FRA.

If you voluntarily suspend your benefits between FRA and age 70, your benefit rate would increase by 2/3rds of 1% for each month that you don't collect your benefits. Your earnings could also cause your benefit rate to increase, but only if your earnings are high enough. Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings, so additional years of earnings only increase a person's benefit rate if they're higher than one or more of the 35 years currently being used to calculate the person's benefit rate.

Best, Jerry