Last Updated: December 16, 2025

Suppose you claim Social Security benefits and then change your mind about receiving that monthly check. Is there anything you can do? Luckily, the Social Security Administration allows you to suspend your benefits. But it’s important to note that you can only do this one time (assuming the SSA has already determined your eligibility). Before that initial determination, you can withdraw your request at any time.¹ 

Additionally, there are a couple of rules to be aware of: 

• First, no one will be able to draw against your benefits once they’re suspended (though a former spouse may still claim any Social Security divorced benefits they’re entitled to). 
• And once you file a request to start claiming your Social Security benefits, you have only 60 days to withdraw that request penalty-free. 

Once you start receiving Social Security benefits, you can file a one-time request for suspension of those benefits. This will allow your benefits to continue to grow, since you will begin accruing delayed retirement credits. But there’s one caveat: you must have reached full retirement age in order to make this request for suspension. So in other words, if you choose to claim benefits at the age of 62 (the minimum age you’re eligible), you will have to wait until age 66 or 67 (depending on exactly when you were born) in order to suspend the benefits and allow them to continue growing. Despite this drawback, in many cases waiting three years from FRA to age 70 still allows your money to grow to the point where you make up for the lower amount you received when you first claimed.² Here’s what the math looks like: 

Example: 

Let’s suppose your full retirement benefit would have been $2,000 per month at your full retirement age of 67, but filing early (at age 62) caused a 30% reduction to $1,400. Suspending your benefits for three years will boost your earnings by 24% (8% per year multiplied by the three years between age 67 and 70) so you’ll net an additional $336 per month if you suspend until you reach 70. When you start taking payments again, you'll receive $1,736, adjusted for inflation. 

Reasons to Suspend Social Security benefits

The biggest reason why people choose to suspend their Social Security benefits is to wait for larger payout years down the line. Perhaps your financial situation has changed and you’re living more comfortably in retirement than you anticipated. Or maybe you’ve received an unexpected financial windfall like an inheritance, a significant stock increase or a large lottery win. In these cases, it makes sense to stop receiving that monthly Social Security check. 

And it’s important to understand that choosing to receive reduced Social Security benefits can directly impact your spouse if they’ll be depending on spousal benefits. Here’s how: if you are the main benefit holder and you decide to elect early - for example at age 62 - your partner's spousal benefit (assuming they don’t qualify for their own) will also be reduced, even if they’ve already reached their full retirement age. 

But taking advantage of the one-time suspension of benefits will allow both your and your spouse’s benefits to grow until age 70 to get a larger amount. Ultimately, this will help you both receive a higher combined income and if your partner lives longer, your partner will have a higher payment for the rest of his/her life.

And there’s another reason why a sudden windfall can be a double-edged sword in retirement: taxes. If your income exceeds a certain amount ($25,000 for singles and $32,000 for married filers), part of your Social Security income could be taxed. For more information on this, check out our class on “Your Government Benefits are Subject to Taxes.”

Suspending your benefits is a good way to avoid having an unexpected increase in income cut into your monthly amount by forcing you to pay taxes on your Social Security benefits. 

SOURCES

1. “Suspending Your Retirement Benefit Payments.” Social Security Administration, https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/suspend.html. Accessed 16 December 2025.
2. Ibid.