Social Security

Here&rsquo;s what you need to consider before you file for Social Security benefits.

About This Class

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Last Updated: December 15, 2025</h6>
As you enter your sixties and inch closer to the finish line in your career, you&rsquo;re most likely thinking about one of the biggest milestones of this decade: Social Security. And there&rsquo;s certainly a lot to consider. Soon, you&rsquo;ll be faced with decisions like when you&rsquo;ll file for benefits, whether they&rsquo;ll be enough to meet your needs financially, and whether you and your spouse should both file, or have one person file while the other waits as long as possible.&nbsp;
In this class, you&rsquo;ll learn everything you need to know about Social Security benefits, along with the things you need to do before you file. What&rsquo;s more, we&rsquo;ve included actionable examples throughout this class that show you how to use our custom Social Security calculator to maximize your benefits. Here&rsquo;s what you can expect in this class:
<ul>
<li>Consider Your Longevity. Your life expectancy should be considered before you elect your benefits.&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">Understanding Your Credits. Here&rsquo;s how SSA determines your benefits.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Part-Time Income. Fill gaps during the years you didn&rsquo;t work or had lower wages.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Delaying Your Election Age till 70s. The power of maximizing your income throughout your golden years.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Marital Status. Your spouse can depend on your benefits, make sure you both factor in life expectancy.</li>
<li aria-level="1">One-time suspension. Elected too early? Get a one-time-only restart to increase your benefits.</li>
</ul>

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<h6 style="text-align: right;">Last Updated: December 16, 2025</h6>
The vast majority of us hope to live a long, healthy life. But the reality is, many people will pass away before they reach the average lifespan of an American adult, while others will surpass this threshold. And barring a best estimate, no one quite knows where they lie on the bell curve of life.&nbsp;
The current life expectancy for females at age 65 in the U.S. is 85.2 years, and 82.5 for males. But there&rsquo;s no way to say how long you&rsquo;ll live.1 However, you can look at your family history for clues. If you have a fair amount of chronic disease in your family, like cancer, diabetes or dementia, you might feel comfortable with a mindset that allows you to claim early and use the money you&rsquo;ve earned while you&rsquo;re still relatively young and healthy.&nbsp;
Despite the fuzzy science that goes into estimating your longevity, it&rsquo;s helpful to have some idea of your spouse&rsquo;s and your own potential lifespan since it has a serious impact on when you should elect Social Security benefits. Would you want to claim your benefits at the age of 62 if you knew you would live past 100? Similarly, would you want to wait until age 70 in an attempt to get the largest check possible if you knew you would only live to 72? In both cases, the answer is likely no.&nbsp;
Separately, if your spouse is dependent on your benefits (or vice versa), you should factor in both your longevity and how that might impact lifetime income. Women generally have a longer lifespan than their male counterparts. So if your spouse depends on your benefits, does it make sense to elect early knowing they could possibly outlive you? Making decisions together is the best way to ensure both you and your spouse understand the outcome.&nbsp;
<h2>Deciding When to Elect</h2>
We recommend considering the following when determining the best age to tap into your Social Security benefits:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Health and life expectancy. Fifty percent of females who are in their mid-50s today will live to be 90 compared to one out of three men.2 Women tend to outlive men, and this could cause financial strife if you&rsquo;re not appropriately prepared. Further, underlying health conditions for either spouse could prompt you both to take advantage of Social Security benefits earlier rather than later.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Whether someone else qualifies for your benefits. Delaying benefits can maximize your benefits if someone other than you, such as a spouse or dependent child, is eligible to receive benefits on your Social Security record.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Other sources of income. Perhaps living off of other investments, a pension or annuity, or another source of passive income is an option, and you can delay benefits for maximum advantage.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Whether you're still working. If you haven't yet reached full retirement age and are healthy enough to work, it might be worth postponing retirement until you reach full retirement age, so you can collect 100 percent of your benefits.</li>
</ul>

<h4>SOURCES</h4>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">&ldquo;Data Brief 492. Mortality in the United States, 2022.&rdquo; CDC, December 2023, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db492-tables.pdf#1.">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db492-tables.pdf#1.</a> Accessed 16 December 2025.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">&ldquo;Society of Actuaries (SOA) Age Wise Longevity Infographic Series.&rdquo; Society of Actuaries,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.soa.org/research/age-wise">https://www.soa.org/research/age-wise</a>. Accessed 16 December 2025.</li>
</ol>

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Last Updated: December 16, 2025</h6>
Your longevity can be a mix of understanding your family medical history, like what&rsquo;s the average lifespan of your parents and grandparents, and whether you&rsquo;re managing your health. Some questions you might ask yourself are: Do you smoke? Exercise regularly? Eat healthy? You get the idea. Although no one can predict how long they can live, you can plan your finances to last longer.&nbsp;
Here are our recommendations on when you should elect your benefits based on your longevity. The Social Security calculator predicts the best age to elect benefits based on your life expectancy to maximize your lifetime benefit.
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Once you get a sense of your estimated longevity, enter it into the Social Security calculator. Once you do, it&rsquo;ll calculate when the optimal time for you to begin claiming your Social Security benefits. If it&rsquo;s looking like you might be lucky enough to live a long life, you may want to consider using a Social Security election strategy that leaves you with a financial cushion for your later years. But if you&rsquo;ve been diagnosed with a chronic illness already, or you&rsquo;re dealing with certain lifestyle factors that tend to put a limit on the ability to reach your 80s or 90s, it might be beneficial to elect between age 62 and your full retirement age.
Let&rsquo;s assume you&rsquo;re currently 58, married, making $85,000 a year, and planning to retire at age 62. If your life expectancy is age 85, here&rsquo;s the breakdown of your benefits and Retirement Score by different election ages.
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In the example above, you can see that delaying your election age to 69 can add up to 10 years to your Retirement Score. Now, it&rsquo;s time for you to calculate your optimal age to elect benefits based on your longevity. Go to the <a href="/retirement-score/social-security-calculator" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Social Security calculator</a> to add your longevity to get your maximum benefit.

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Last Updated: December 16, 2025</h6>
Before you consider much else when it comes to your Social Security benefits, you need to ensure that you are, in fact, eligible for them. That eligibility only comes after you&rsquo;ve earned 40 credits for the work you&rsquo;ve done over the years.&nbsp;
Social Security won&rsquo;t pay benefits to you without these credits. They use the number of credits you&rsquo;ve earned to determine your eligibility for retirement or disability benefits, and also any survivor benefits your loved ones can receive when you pass.&nbsp;
<span data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;For every $1,510 your earn in 2022, you'll earn one credit. You must earn $6,040 in 2022 to get the maximum four credits for the year.&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:769,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0}">Generally speaking, the required 40 credits come with about 10 years of full-time work. In each of those ten years, you can earn a maximum of four credits (4 credits per year x 10 years = 40 credits). For every $1,890 you earn in 2026, you'll earn one credit. You must earn $7,560 in 2026 to get the maximum of four credits for the year.1&nbsp;
Just because you may earn significantly more than this in a year, that doesn&rsquo;t mean you&rsquo;ll rack up more credits; this amount simply serves as a threshold to determine eligibility. And more credits doesn&rsquo;t mean a higher Social Security payout, either. Your Social Security benefits will be calculated based on your income.&nbsp;
<h2>How Social Security Benefits are Calculated</h2>
The calculation used by the Social Security Administration to determine your monthly benefit amount is a complicated one, to say the least. They&rsquo;ll use your 35 highest-earning years as a basis for the calculation to determine how much you should receive at your full retirement age.2 So if you haven&rsquo;t worked at least 35 years, a zero will be entered for each year you didn&rsquo;t work. If you&rsquo;ve had a part-time job, that will factor into your benefits. We have a lesson dedicated to &ldquo;Part-Time Income&rdquo; further down to ensure there are few to no zeros in your Social Security calculation.&nbsp;

<h4>SOURCES</h4>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">&ldquo;Quarter of Coverage.&rdquo; SSA, Social Security Administration, <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/QC.html">https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/QC.html</a>. Accessed 16 December 2025.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">&ldquo;Your Retirement Benefit: How It Is Figured.&rdquo; SSA, Social Security Administration, January 2023,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf">https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf</a>. Accessed 16 December 2025.</li>
</ol>

Last Updated: March 31, 2026
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So far, we&rsquo;ve discussed personal factors like break-even age and longevity. But there&rsquo;s another factor that weighs heavily into the decision of when to elect your Social Security benefits: your marital status. That&rsquo;s right; if you&rsquo;re a married person, you&rsquo;ll have to approach retirement a bit differently than a single person. And if you were married but divorced or widowed after a long marriage, you'll also have different considerations. Understanding the connection between your marital status and your benefits, the different election options available to you when you're single, and tactics to maximize your benefits can help you make the most of your retirement.
In this lesson, we&rsquo;ll break down what your options are depending on your marital status.&nbsp;
<h2>Claiming as a Married Couple</h2>
In a marriage, there are two people collecting Social Security benefits, assuming both partners worked. But of course, that&rsquo;s not always the case. If you were a stay-at-home parent or homemaker, you may not have worked long enough to qualify for your own Social Security retirement benefits. In a case like this, you can take advantage of spousal benefits, where you are entitled to 50% of your spouse&rsquo;s benefits. As discussed earlier, make election decisions together and factor both you and your spouse&rsquo;s longevity to maximize your benefits (and survivor benefits).&nbsp;
You can qualify for spousal benefits if you meet the following conditions:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Your spouse is already receiving retirement benefits,</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You have been married for at least one year, and</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You are at least 62 years old, or you are caring for a child who is under age 16 or disabled.</li>
</ul>
Don&rsquo;t forget that you must have reached full retirement age in order to receive the full 50% of your spousal benefits. If you elect earlier, the amount you&rsquo;re entitled to will be reduced, but you won&rsquo;t receive a higher benefits amount after your FRA has passed. Understand more about spousal benefits in our class entitled, &ldquo;<a href="/retirement-school/social-security-for-married-couples" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Social Security Benefits for Married Couples</a>.&rdquo;
<h2>Claiming if You are Divorced&nbsp;</h2>
If you are divorced, in many cases you are eligible to receive Social Security benefits based on your ex-spouse&rsquo;s earnings record, even if he or she has not yet started claiming benefits. You&rsquo;ll be entitled to the greater of your own benefits, or 50% of your ex-spouse&rsquo;s benefits, and the following conditions apply:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You were married for more than 10 years,</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You never remarried</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You&rsquo;ve reached age 62 or older</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You&rsquo;ve been divorced at least two years</li>
</ul>
If you&rsquo;re looking for further details on how Social Security benefits work for divorced couples, see our class entitled, &ldquo;<a href="/retirement-school/divorced-social-security-benefits" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Social Security Benefits for Divorced Couples</a>&rdquo; to learn more.
<h2>Claiming if You are Widowed&nbsp;</h2>
No one wants to face the passing of their spouse. But if you&rsquo;re faced with this situation, you&rsquo;ll be entitled to survivor&rsquo;s benefits as long as your spouse was qualified to receive Social Security benefits. Social Security survivor benefits are payments paid to widows, widowers, and dependents of eligible workers after the death of a loved one who was paying into Social Security.&nbsp;
The age of the surviving spouse comes into play when it comes to claiming survivor benefits. Here&rsquo;s how it works:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Age 50: Surviving spouses who are at least 50 and are disabled can begin receiving 100% of their eligible survivor benefits. The disability must have begun within seven years of the passing of their spouse.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Age 60: Surviving spouses can receive reduced benefits starting at age 60. The amount you&rsquo;ll receive operates on a sliding scale from 71.5% up to 99% and increases as you approach full retirement age.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Full retirement age: Surviving spouses who have reached their own full retirement age are eligible for 100% of their deceased spouse&rsquo;s Social Security benefits.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Any age: A surviving spouse can collect benefits at any age as long as they have not remarried and are a full-time caregiver for their child who is under 16 or disabled. If the person remarries after they reach age 60 &mdash; age 50 if disabled &mdash; their marital status doesn&rsquo;t affect their eligibility for survivor benefits.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">If you qualify for your own benefit: If your own benefits are higher than your survivor benefits, you can receive your survivor benefits at age 60 while allowing your own benefit to grow. Then, you can switch to your own benefit anywhere between age 62 to 70.1</li>
</ul>
Read our class called &ldquo;<a href="/retirement-school/social-security-benefits-for-widows" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Social Security Benefits for Widow(er)s</a>&rdquo; to learn more about your election strategy and how survivor benefits work.&nbsp;
<h4>SOURCES</h4>
<ol>
<li>&ldquo;Who can get Survivor benefits.&rdquo; SSA, <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/eligibility">https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/eligibility</a>. Accessed 16 December 2025.</li>
</ol>

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Last Updated: December 30, 2025</h6>
Today&rsquo;s retirees are beginning to look at retirement a bit differently. Due to a host of different factors, many retirees are taking on part-time work after exiting their full-time gig. And since every retirement looks a bit different, there are many cases where this is a great idea financially. Consider the case of someone who chooses to leave the workforce before they reach age 62 (the minimum age at which you can be eligible for Social Security).&nbsp;
Whether you make this decision by choice or by force (maybe a medical issue has made continuing to work full time an impossibility), the Social Security Administration will log zero dollars in annual income for each year that you don&rsquo;t have income when calculating your retirement benefits.&nbsp;
Did you know: At least 70% of people plan to work part-time in retirement. By adding an extra $1,000 a month of part-time income for five years, you can increase your Retirement Score by 3 years.
<h2>Reach 35 years of Income with a Part-Time Job</h2>
In order to qualify for the maximum Social Security benefits, you&rsquo;ll need 35 years of income. The annual dollar amounts you&rsquo;ve made are averaged as part of the calculation used to determine the amount of your benefits. So it&rsquo;s easy to see that you don&rsquo;t want zeros as part of this equation: they drastically reduce your Social Security benefits. Working part-time is a way to assuage this type of hit to your benefits.&nbsp;
<h2>Can You Work and Draw Social Security?</h2>
You can choose to pull in some income while you&rsquo;re receiving Social Security benefits. But if you&rsquo;re below full retirement age, you&rsquo;ll be subject to an annual income limit. For 2026, that income limit is $24,480. Above this amount, for every $2 you earn, SSA will reduce your benefits by $1.1 Head to our class &ldquo;<a href="/retirement-school/working-part-time-impacts-your-benefits" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Working Part-time Impacts Your Benefits</a>&rdquo; to see how full retirement age plays a factor with your income.
<h2>Benefits of Working Part-time</h2>
Taking on a part-time job or a side hustle can help you earn additional income and offset the years where you weren&rsquo;t making money. Let&rsquo;s look at some of the benefits and drawbacks of continuing to work in retirement by taking a part-time job.&nbsp;
<h2>Pros:</h2>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Keeps your mind engaged and allows you to continue learning new things</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Provides a social outlet and prevents boredom</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Provides a supplemental income source</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">May lead to new and exciting opportunities like team activities, new friendships and other income avenues</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">May allow you to continue saving in a 401(k) (see our class &ldquo;<a href="/retirement-school/how-to-lower-your-taxes-in-retirement" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">How to Lower Your Taxes in Retirement</a>.&rdquo;)</li>
</ul>
<h2>Cons:</h2>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You&rsquo;ll still be tethered to a schedule and will lack total freedom in retirement</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You likely still won&rsquo;t be covered under a health care plan</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You may face much lower pay than you made while working full time</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You&rsquo;ll have expenses associated with your job, like eating out, commuting, etc.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Part-time Income Ideas&nbsp;</h2>
So you&rsquo;ve decided to consider working part time during retirement. Or at least you&rsquo;d like to open the door to some new income streams. The first several years immediately following retirement are a great time to do this, provided you&rsquo;re still active and healthy enough. We&rsquo;ve compiled a list below that&rsquo;s full of ideas you can consider. When reading through this list, think about things like how many hours you&rsquo;re hoping to work, whether you&rsquo;re okay being on your feet for a long time or if you&rsquo;d prefer sitting down, and what type of environment you feel most comfortable in.
Here are some unique and fun ideas:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Professional consulting</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Doordash or similar food-delivery service</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Renting out part of your home or listing it on AirBnB</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Listing your pool on Swimply</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Ushering at your local opera/theatre</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Working at a baseball game, festival, or concert</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Running for office in your local government</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Starting your own Etsy or e-commerce business</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Creating your own online course&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h4>SOURCES</h4>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">&ldquo;Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Information for 2025.&rdquo; SSA.gov, Social Security Administration, <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cola/">https://www.ssa.gov/cola/</a>. Accessed 16 December 2025.</li>
</ol>

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Last Updated: December 16, 2025</h6>
If you&rsquo;re like many workers, every day past your 62nd birthday presents a whole new temptation to apply for Social Security benefits. Yes, you&nbsp;do qualify, so it&rsquo;s something to consider. But before pulling the trigger, we advise you to think carefully about your needs as well as those of your spouse as the future unfolds. The government doesn&rsquo;t consider age 62 to be &ldquo;full retirement age,&rdquo; so you&rsquo;ll receive a reduced benefit for the rest of your life if you claim your benefits now. In fact, if you take your benefits before full retirement age, your benefits will be reduced by a percentage for each month that you&rsquo;re early.&nbsp;
If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67. So taking benefits at the age of 62 shaves 60 months off of your full retirement age, substantially reducing your benefits. For example, you would receive $700 instead of $1,000 per month &mdash; a 30% reduction. Read our class &ldquo;<a href="/retirement-school/social-security-101" rel="follow">Social Security 101</a>&rdquo; to find your full retirement age. This can spark a much-needed conversation with your spouse on the best time for each of you to claim Social Security benefits.
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Our Social Security calculator allows you to see exactly what type of increase or reduction you could expect based on when you elect benefits. Will you have enough? If not, know that for every year (up to age 70) that you delay taking benefits, you&rsquo;ll see an 8% increase in your benefits. So waiting even a year or two means you&rsquo;ll get a larger Social Security check, as shown in the example above. Note that getting a part-time job is an excellent way to bring in some much-needed income that will allow you to boost your Social Security income for the rest of your life.

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Last Updated: December 16, 2025</h6>
Waiting until the age of 70 to claim Social Security benefits is not exactly a popular option.&nbsp;Estimates indicate that only 5% of men and 7% of women wait this long to draw benefits.1 Why is this? Many Americans underestimate their or their spouse's longevity, or simply may not want to wait to elect Social Security. If you are one of the lucky ones who&rsquo;s blessed with good health and reasonable energy levels well into your 70s and even 80s, delaying Social Security benefits can pay off in a big way. After all, delaying this long will net you 132% of your maximum benefit amount if your full retirement age is 66, and 124% if your full retirement age is 67. And if you&rsquo;re married, this can help increase your spousal and future survivor benefit.&nbsp;
<h3>Example:&nbsp;</h3>
Joe was entitled to $1,500 per month in Social Security benefits when he turned 67. However, he lived on other sources of income and&nbsp; delayed claiming benefits until he turned 70. Because he waited three years, he was eligible for 124% of his benefits &mdash; an additional 8% for all three years he waited. As a result, his Social Security benefits were $1,860 per month (an increase of $360 per month) once he turned 70.&nbsp;
And if you&rsquo;re a woman, know that 50% of women in their mid-50s today will live to age 90+.2 That should give you even more of an incentive to delay your own benefits or discuss with your partner on the most optimal time to elect that will benefit you both.&nbsp;
<h2>How to Decide Whether to Delay Benefits</h2>
Deciding when to claim your Social Security benefits can be one of the most agonizing decisions of your life. After all, there&rsquo;s money sitting there, waiting for you! But getting a little creative with your finances may afford you much greater security later in life when you may be faced with fewer options and steep medical bills. So when you&rsquo;re making this decision, it&rsquo;s best to consider it from several different angles.&nbsp;
First, look at your expected longevity. Of course, no one knows exactly how long their life will last. But if you&rsquo;ve had a few bouts of cancer by the time you reach age 60, you&rsquo;re probably approaching this decision with more gravity than someone who&rsquo;s still hiking 50 miles in a weekend with their 90-year-old father. It&rsquo;s also helpful to take a look at your current health, and that of immediate family members. If you are at a healthy weight, see a doctor regularly, have good blood work results and don&rsquo;t suffer from a chronic illness like COPD or diabetes, you&rsquo;re likely fine to delay Social Security benefits in the hopes of seeing that higher paycheck later on.&nbsp;
Next, consider your other retirement savings. Do you have any? If not, you could be like millions of Americans who have no choice but to file for benefits as soon as they&rsquo;re eligible. But if you have built up a nest egg, it may be best to tap into that in the early years of your retirement (or even take on a part-time job or side gig) to allow your Social Security benefits to increase untouched. A workable budget that&rsquo;s tailored to your retirement lifestyle is a great first step in figuring out how much money you&rsquo;ll need each month once you retire, and will help you figure out if you&rsquo;re financially able to delay benefits.&nbsp;
Another major consideration is whether you have a spouse or other dependents who rely on your benefits. In a case like this, you should factor their longevity to ensure they&rsquo;re taken care of.&nbsp;
Finally, consider your expenses now versus later in life. Consider the fact that someone turning 65 today has an almost 70% chance of needing some sort of long-term care before they pass, and that the average 65-year-old couple retiring today will need to spend at least $345,000 in healthcare expenses over the remainder of their lives.3 With the staggering costs associated with this type of care, it may make sense to delay Social Security benefits as long as possible, so the extra money is there later in life, when you need it more and aren&rsquo;t as able to work to bring in additional income.&nbsp;
<h2>No Need to Delay Past Age 70</h2>
Keep in mind that the delayed retirement credit stops when you reach the age of 70, so there&rsquo;s no advantage to putting off receiving Social Security benefits past that point. You&rsquo;re not forced to file once you reach your 70th birthday, but you won&rsquo;t benefit from delaying either.&nbsp;
<h4>SOURCES</h4>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Hartman, Rachel. &ldquo;Reasons to Take Social Security Late at Age 70.&rdquo; U.S. News and World Report, 10 June 2024, <a href="https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/social-security/articles/reasons-to-claim-social-security-at-age-70">https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/social-security/articles/reasons-to-claim-social-security-at-age-70</a>. Accessed 16 December 2025.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">&ldquo;Society of Actuaries (SOA) Age Wise Longevity Infographic Series.&rdquo; Society of Actuaries, 2019,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.soa.org/research/age-wise">https://www.soa.org/research/age-wise</a>. Accessed 16 December 2025.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Fidelity Investments&reg; Releases 2025 Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate, A Timely Reminder for All Generations to Begin Planiing.&rdquo; Fidelity Investments, 30 July 2025, <a href="https://newsroom.fidelity.com/pressreleases/fidelity-investments--releases-2025-retiree-health-care-cost-estimate--a-timely-reminder-for-all-gen/s/3c62e988-12e2-4dc8-afb4-f44b06c6d52e" rel="follow">https://newsroom.fidelity.com/pressreleases/fidelity-investments--releases-2025-retiree-health-care-cost-estimate--a-timely-reminder-for-all-gen/s/3c62e988-12e2-4dc8-afb4-f44b06c6d52e</a>. Accessed 16 December 2025.</li>
</ol>

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Last Updated: December 16, 2025</h6>
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&rsquo;s important to note that you can only do this one time (assuming the SSA has already determined your eligibility). Before that initial&nbsp;determination, you can withdraw your request at any time.1&nbsp;
Additionally, there are a couple of rules to be aware of:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">First, no one will be able to draw against your benefits once they&rsquo;re suspended (though a former spouse may still claim any Social Security divorced benefits they&rsquo;re entitled to).&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">And once you file a request to start claiming your Social Security benefits, you have only 60 days to withdraw that request penalty-free.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
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&rsquo;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&rsquo;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&rsquo;s what the math looks like:&nbsp;
Example:&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;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&rsquo;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.&nbsp;
<h2>Reasons to Suspend Social Security benefits</h2>
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&rsquo;re living more comfortably in retirement than you anticipated. Or maybe you&rsquo;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.&nbsp;
And it&rsquo;s important to understand that choosing to receive reduced Social Security benefits can directly impact your spouse if they&rsquo;ll be depending on spousal benefits. Here&rsquo;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&rsquo;t qualify for their own) will also be reduced, even if they&rsquo;ve already reached their full retirement age.&nbsp;
But taking advantage of the one-time suspension of benefits will allow both your and your spouse&rsquo;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&rsquo;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 &ldquo;<a href="/retirement-school/your-government-benefits-are-subject-to-taxes" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Your Government Benefits are Subject to Taxes</a>.&rdquo; 
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.&nbsp;
<h4>SOURCES</h4>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">&ldquo;Suspending Your Retirement Benefit Payments.&rdquo; Social Security Administration, <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/suspend.html">https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/suspend.html</a>. Accessed 16 December 2025.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Ibid.</li>
</ol>

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Last Updated: December 16, 2025</h6>
If you&rsquo;re part of a married couple, you have more than one set of Social Security benefits to factor into your retirement equation. What&rsquo;s the best way to manage both benefits payments? What do you do when one spouse&rsquo;s check is larger than the other? In this lesson, we&rsquo;ll dive into these questions and more so you&rsquo;re able to put together a solid strategy that maximizes your benefits.&nbsp;
As long as your spouse is already receiving their Social Security benefits, you&rsquo;ve been married for at least one year, and you&rsquo;re at least 62 years old, you are eligible to draw benefits based on the work credits your spouse has earned over the years. How much you&rsquo;ll receive in Social Security spousal benefits depends on your age, your spouse&rsquo;s age, the maximum amount of your spouse&rsquo;s benefit, and whether other benefits are available to you. The maximum amount you can claim is 50 percent of your spouse&rsquo;s full benefit.
<h2>Should you draw your own benefits or your spouse&rsquo;s benefits?&nbsp;</h2>
It sure sounds good to be able to collect Social Security benefits based on your spouse&rsquo;s record. But don&rsquo;t get too excited yet; if your retirement benefit is higher than the spousal benefit you&rsquo;d receive, then Social Security will pay you only your own retirement benefit. If 50% of the spousal benefit is higher, then Social Security will pay you the spousal benefit rather than your own. So, the good news is you&rsquo;ll always receive the higher of the two amounts. The bad news is, there&rsquo;s no double-dipping when it comes to Social Security benefits.&nbsp;
Example:&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s say your spouse has earned an average of $90,000 per year working full-time for over 40 years and is eligible for monthly Social Security benefits of $2,500. Half of that is $1,250. (Remember: spousal benefits are 50% of your spouse&rsquo;s full benefit at your full retirement age. Prior to that, you&rsquo;ll receive a lower percentage.) You earned an average of $20,000 per year at various part-time jobs over 20 years, along with raising your children. Your Social Security benefits would equate to $750 per month, which is less than $1,250. So in a case like this, you would receive the spousal benefit because it would be higher than your own retirement benefit.&nbsp;
<h2>What if you&rsquo;re a widow?&nbsp;</h2>
If your spouse has passed, your spousal benefits will look a little different. In this case, you&rsquo;re eligible to receive the full amount of your late spouse&rsquo;s benefit, if you&rsquo;ve reached full retirement age, rather than only 50%. However, you&rsquo;ll still be paid the higher of this amount or your own retirement benefits; not both. But if you qualify for your own benefit, you may be able to receive survivor benefits first while delaying your own benefit and then switch to your own.&nbsp;

Each year, about three months before your birthday, you&rsquo;ll receive a paper statement that outlines your Social Security benefits. And now, the SSA&rsquo;s online statement is easier to read and understand than before, providing estimated Social Security benefits amounts for every age from 62 to 70. If you&rsquo;d like to keep closer tabs on your Social Security information, you can go online and create a &ldquo;my Social Security&rdquo; account. It&rsquo;s simple to sign up; all you&rsquo;ll need is basic information like name, birth date and address.
Especially in the years right before you plan to retire, it&rsquo;s important to comb through your Social Security statement carefully to check for errors. It&rsquo;s not uncommon for these statements to contain inaccurate information, and this can affect your Social Security monthly benefits.&nbsp;
A common error in SSA statements is having a zero logged in a year where you actually made an income. Keep a record of your income over the years, or if you haven&rsquo;t done this, check your tax records (consult your accountant or tax preparer if you don&rsquo;t have physical copies of your tax returns. Or, if you&rsquo;ve used a software like TurboTax, this information will be readily available in that system).&nbsp;
If you determine there&rsquo;s an error on your statement, contact the Social Security Administration at their national 800 number: 800-772-1213. You&rsquo;ll be able to reach someone between 8:00 a.m. &ndash; 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you&rsquo;re deaf or hard of hearing and use TTY equipment, you can use the administration&rsquo;s TTY number, which is 800-325-0778.

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Last Updated: December 16, 2025</h6>
As you can see, there are lots of things to consider before you decide to elect Social Security benefits.&nbsp;
<h2>Key Takeaways</h2>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Your estimated longevity is a large factor in whether and when to claim your Social Security benefits. Use the Social Security calculator to play with different longevity scenarios and see what the best age to elect is for you.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Another consideration is how long you&rsquo;ve worked. You need 40 credits to claim benefits, which equates to about 10 years of work, but your benefits will be calculated using your highest-earning 35 years. If you haven&rsquo;t yet put in 35 years of work, a zero will be entered for each year below 35 years.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Married? Single? Divorced? Widowed? Your marital status impacts your election decision in a variety of ways, from making sure your spouse is covered should you pass first if you&rsquo;re married, to determining when you can claim your ex-spousal benefits if you&rsquo;re divorced.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Regardless of your marital status, you have the option to delay receiving your benefits until the age of 70 in order to enjoy a larger check each month. You can even choose to suspend your benefits to work toward this goal, but you&rsquo;ll only be able to do that one time.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Next Steps</h2>
Add your longevity and toggle between different scenarios in the Social Security calculator to determine the best strategy for claiming your Social Security benefits like when to claim and what to do in order to maximize your benefits. Once you&rsquo;ve determined the best age to elect, be sure to check out these Social Security classes:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="/retirement-school/social-security-101" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Social Security 101</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="/retirement-school/social-security-taxed" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">How Social Security is Taxed</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="/retirement-school/how-to-enroll-social-security" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">How to Enroll in Social Security</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="/retirement-school/social-security-for-married-couples" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Social Security Benefits for Married Couples</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="/retirement-school/divorced-social-security-benefits" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Social Security Benefits for Divorced</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="/retirement-school/social-security-benefits-for-widows" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Social Security Benefits for Widow(er)s</a></li>
</ul>

Here’s what you need to consider before you file for Social Security benefits.

Checklists designed to help you make informed decisions, and ultimately get the most out of your benefits.&nbsp;

Checklists designed to help you make informed decisions, and ultimately get the most out of your benefits. 

Read this class to learn how to avoid some of the most common Social Security mistakes that could reduce your benefits.

Read this class to learn how to avoid some of the most common Social Security mistakes that could reduce your benefits.

This class covers everything you need to know about the potential changes to both Medicare and Social Security in President Trump&rsquo;s budget&mdash;including a detailed breakdown of these budget line items, how the changes could impact you and what to do if you&rsquo;re currently retired and receiving these benefits or nearing retirement and planning to receive them soon.

This class covers everything you need to know about the potential changes to both Medicare and Social Security in President Trump’s budget—including a detailed breakdown of these budget line items, how the changes could impact you and what to do if you’re currently retired and receiving these benefits or nearing retirement and planning to receive them soon.



As a woman, maximizing your Social Security benefits requires navigating specific challenges.

As a woman, maximizing your Social Security benefits requires navigating specific challenges.

Social Security announced the 2026 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) of 2.8%. This class helps you understand what higher inflation means for your retirement and how Social Security can provide inflation protection.

Social Security announced the 2026 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) of 2.8%. This class helps you understand what higher inflation means for your retirement and how Social Security can provide inflation protection.

Ready to elect your benefits? We'll guide you through this process.

Ready to elect your benefits? We'll guide you through this process.

Think your Social Security income is tax-free? Think again. Learn what taxes you may face on your benefits.

Think your Social Security income is tax-free? Think again. Learn what taxes you may face on your benefits.

Your new retirement income comes with a set of rules (and patience) on how to claim it. Here's an overview of everything you need to know about your Social Security benefits.

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Your new retirement income comes with a set of rules (and patience) on how to claim it. Here's an overview of everything you need to know about your Social Security benefits.

Reclaim your life after a divorce and the benefits you're entitled to.

Reclaim your life after a divorce and the benefits you're entitled to.

What's mine is yours, but what about Social Security benefits? Find out how marriage affects retirement benefits.&nbsp;

What's mine is yours, but what about Social Security benefits? Find out how marriage affects retirement benefits. 

You've worked for this benefit and now learn how you can maximize your retirement income.

You've worked for this benefit and now learn how you can maximize your retirement income.

If you have worked in a public sector job, it's critical to understand whether you are eligible for Social Security.&nbsp; In this class we explore what benefits you may, or may not, be eligible for.

If you have worked in a public sector job, it's critical to understand whether you are eligible for Social Security.  In this class we explore what benefits you may, or may not, be eligible for.

Losing a loved one is challenging but you'll at least be able to receive his/her's benefits even after they are gone.

Losing a loved one is challenging but you'll at least be able to receive his/her's benefits even after they are gone.

Planning to work and receive benefits at the same? If so, here's how your age may play a big factor in your income.

Planning to work and receive benefits at the same? If so, here's how your age may play a big factor in your income.

Social Security Category

Before Electing Social Security

Want to learn more? Unlock all lessons in this class now and access them forever. Your first class is always free.

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Working Credits Determine Your Eligibility

Your Marital Status

Calculating Longevity in Your Benefits

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