Personal Investments • Instrument that works like treasuries

... (I'm 65 and on SSDI; I'll need some of the money to pause SS between age 66.6 and 70 in order to maximize SS; for the rest of the money my need for it will be laddered.)

an aside query: Can you "pause" SS when SSDI ends at your regular retirement age? The information I got from SSA was once I reached, say, 66.4, they would automatically continue to pay the same amt but the benefit title would switch from SSDI to regular SS.

The short answer is 'Yes'.

It's true that it will automatically continue at the same amount. But that's only if you let it.

I wouldn't know the last part if I weren't active in my disability community. I'm told that even most Social Security employees don't know that last part.

(And sadly, most people on SSDI can't afford to do that last part; frankly, I don't feel like it's fair that they thus miss out on the greater level of payments possible for everyone if they wait until age 70 to draw regular Social Security. Until lockdown started I didn't think I'd be able to afford to either.)

Waiting until age 70 will for me result in 126.7% higher payments.

According to the book "Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security", some months in advance of the date one reaches "Full Retirement Age" (66 2/3 for me) one tells Social Security one wants a suspension (popularly referred to as a freeze) of payments. It's advisable to keep hard copies of this, and to be very specific as to the start and end dates of suspension.

If at any point during the suspension one wants/needs to end the suspension and receive Social Security payments before 70, one gets the benefit of whatever fraction of the 40 months one went without it, prorated.

Statistics: Posted by valleypeach — Sat Jun 29, 2024 12:21 am — Replies 22 — Views 2329