Temporarily suspending Social Security benefits during high-paying contract work - possible?

Yes, you can voluntarily suspend your benefits, but only if you've reached your full retirement age (which is probably 66 and some months for you). If you're still 63-64, you CAN'T suspend - you'd just have to deal with the earnings limit deductions. Call the SSA directly to request suspension if you're old enough.

At 64, you can't suspend benefits - that option is only available once you reach full retirement age. Since you're under FRA, you'll be subject to the 2025 earnings limit which is around $21,240 per year. For every $2 you earn above that limit, SSA will withhold $1 from your benefits. With a $2500/week contract for 3 months, you're looking at about $30,000 in earnings just from that job. This doesn't include any other work you might do in 2025. You'll definitely exceed the earnings limit and will have some benefits withheld.

I went through something similar last year! Got a consulting gig while on SS. Just remember they don't count the contract income in the month you RECEIVE it, but in the months you actually EARNED it. Social security uses a different accounting method than the irs!!

Simple math for you: If the 2025 earnings limit is ~$21,240 and your contract pays $30,000, you're $8,760 over the limit. At $1 withheld for every $2 over, they'll withhold about $4,380 from your benefits throughout the year. But this is GOOD news! Taking the contract is definitely worth it. You'll earn $30,000 and only lose ~$4,380 in benefits. You come out WAY ahead financially!

My sister in law tried to call SSA about something like this and was on hold for over THREE HOURS before getting disconnected!!!! RIDICULOUS!!!! The govt doesn't care about us seniors at all!!!

Let me clarify something here. The earnings limit DOES apply to you, but they won't just cancel your benefits entirely during those months. What will happen is the SSA will calculate how much you're over the annual limit, and then they'll withhold full monthly payments (starting in January usually) until they've withheld enough to cover the overage. So you might not receive benefits for a month or two, then they'll resume. It's not like they take a little from each month - they withhold entire months until the "debt" is paid.

Something else to consider - when you reach your full retirement age, SSA will actually recalculate your benefit amount and give you credit for the months they withheld benefits due to excess earnings. It's called the Adjustment to Reduction Factor. So you're not permanently losing that money - it will increase your monthly benefit amount later.

One more important thing - make sure you report your expected earnings to SSA early in the year. You can do this by calling them or visiting a local office. It's better to have them withhold the correct amount from the start than to get a surprise overpayment notice later that you have to pay back all at once.

My husband's cousin didn't report his extra income and the SSA hit him with a HUGE overpayment notice two years later!!! They wanted ALL the money back at once! Such a nightmare! Don't make that mistake!!

To summarize for you: 1. You can't suspend benefits until FRA (probably 66+some months for you) 2. You'll exceed the earnings limit with your contract ($30k vs ~$21k limit) 3. SSA will withhold about $4,380 from your benefits (probably as 2-3 full months with no payment) 4. You'll still come out financially ahead by taking the contract 5. Report your expected earnings to SSA right away in January 6. When you reach FRA, you'll get credit for the withheld months Good luck with your contract!