Article Written by : Invisible Insurrection

Much has written about Social Security but not many addresses the situations with single individuals. Many believe that Social Security benefits favor married over singles. Singles can enhance their opportunities by employing certain strategies too.

Here is one strategy that can work for singles, file-and-suspend strategy. Since there are no spousal benefit considerations with singles, this strategy needs to be evaluated in context singles. Instead of receiving benefits at the normal retirement age, age 66, singles may be able to receive 32 percent more by filing at age 70 for benefits. The drawback is you cannot ask for benefits that you did not get during the time of eligibility and the time of withdrawal. But if you file at the eligible retirement age of 66 and immediately suspend by file-and-suspend strategy, you could get a lump sum based on the benefits you would have received during that time. This is only possible if you file-and-suspend your benefits.

So the strategy gives you the comfort of delaying your payments until age 70 and rack up retirement credit. The drawback with the strategy is if you decide to take benefits before age 70, it will give you a lump sum but your benefits will be calculated as you started your benefits at age 66, lowering your monthly benefit amount.