Strategies for growing your Social Security benefits typically focus on what you can do before you apply for benefits. This is because your checks are based on your income during your working years.
But it's not entirely accurate to say you can't boost your benefits at all after you've submitted your Social Security application. It may not be easy, but here are three moves that could net you more money if you're already receiving benefits.
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1. Withdraw your Social Security application
You have the option to withdraw your Social Security application within 12 months of signing up. This is useful for those who regret applying for Social Security early. It's essentially a do-over, but it's a one-time offer. It's also tough for many seniors to pull off.
You must fill out a form requesting that the Social Security Administration withdraw your application, and you have to return all the money you've received from Social Security thus far. If you have family members claiming on your work record, you have to pay back all these benefits as well. You won't get any further benefits until you apply for Social Security again.
Pulling this off can grow your checks substantially. You'll gain anywhere from five-twelfths of 1% per month (5% per year) to two-thirds of 1% per month (8% per year), depending on your age at the time.
2. Suspend benefits at your full retirement age (FRA)
Suspending benefits is an alternative to withdrawing your Social Security application. It's a good fit for those who have already been claiming Social Security for more than one year and those who cannot afford to pay back the Social Security benefits they and their families have already received.
This strategy enables you to continue receiving benefits like normal until you reach your full retirement age (FRA). This varies based on your birth year, but it'll probably be somewhere between 66 and 67 for you. Once you reach this age, you can request that the Social Security Administration stop sending you checks until you either ask that it starts again or you qualify for your maximum benefit at 70.
During the time you're not receiving checks, you'll earn delayed retirement credits worth two-thirds of 1% per month, or 8% per year. To put this in perspective, if you were earning a $2,000 monthly benefit at your FRA of 67 and suspended benefits until 70, your new checks would be $2,480 per month when you started receiving Social Security again.
3. Earn enough income from a job while claiming Social Security under your FRA
This isn't a strategy you have to opt into. It will happen automatically for those who are claiming Social Security under their FRA while simultaneously earning a certain amount of money from their jobs.
The government withholds $1 for every $2 you earn over $22,320 in 2024 if you'll be under your FRA all year. If you'll reach your FRA in 2024, you lose $1 for every $3 you earn over $59,520 if you earn this amount before your birthday. This is known as the Social Security earnings test.
But money lost to the earnings test isn't gone forever. When you reach your FRA, the Social Security Administration recalculates your benefit and boosts your future checks to account for what it previously withheld. How much your benefit grows depends on how much the Social Security Administration took out of your checks in earlier years.
Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs)
You may not be able to pull off any of these benefit-increasing moves, but that's OK. Everyone on Social Security receives cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) in most years. These are designed to help counter inflation.
You don't have to do anything to claim COLAs. You'll receive them automatically at the start of each year. Look out for news about 2025's COLA in October.
