Can i stop social security benefits and restart them?

When you want to return to Medicare, you may face a coverage gap unless you qualify for a special enrollment period. And you still may have to fill out additional forms to reenroll. TO SAVE

ON THE PREMIUMS, if you have coverage from your own or your spouse’s employer, you may be able to temporarily drop Part B later. But you’ll need to submit Form CMS-1763 separately to the

Social Security Administration (SSA) after your Social Security withdrawal has been approved. IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND about a withdrawal of benefits, you have 60 days from the date officials

approve your withdrawal to cancel the request. The cancellation must be in writing, be signed by you or a proper applicant, provide the reason for the cancellation, and state that you want

a determination on your eligibility and entitlement for the original filed application. This request must be mailed or dropped off at your local SSA field office. WHEN CAN I REQUEST

SUSPENSION OF BENEFITS? If you’ve been getting retirement benefits for more than a year, your window for withdrawal of benefits has closed. However, once you reach full retirement age, you

have a second option. You can request a suspension of benefits. Everyone born in 1958 will reach full retirement age, 66 and 8 months old, by August 2025. Those born in 1959 will be at full

retirement age at 66 and 10 months. Full retirement age is 67 for those born in 1960 and later. A LONG-TERM BENEFIT BOOST. If you can afford to do without your retirement benefit for a few

years, suspending your benefits might make long-term financial sense. During a suspension, you earn delayed retirement credits, which increase your eventual payment by two-thirds of 1

percent for each suspended month or 8 percent for each suspended year. Unlike with withdrawal of benefits, you don’t have to repay anything to the SSA. When you resume collecting Social

Security, you will have locked in a higher monthly payment for life. SUSPENSION IS FLEXIBLE. You can ask Social Security to resume payments at any time until you turn 70. If you haven’t done

it by then, Social Security will automatically reinstate your benefits at the higher amount. You can request a suspension by phone, in writing or in person at your local Social Security

office. ​ KEEP IN MIND RELATED BENEFITS ALSO SUSPENDED. While your retirement benefits are suspended, your spouse and children cannot collect family benefits on your work record. Similarly,

you cannot collect spousal benefits on your wife’s or husband’s record if your retirement payments are suspended. NO RETROACTIVE PAYOUT. You cannot collect retroactive benefits for the

months your payments were suspended. Retroactivity is available only for an initial retirement benefits claim if it’s made after full retirement age. ​