File and Suspend Deadline Looms – Confusion Reigns

 

Since the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Bill of 2015, much has been made in the public media of the imminent demise (on April 30, 2016) of the popular file and suspend technique.  Meanwhile, the SSA was busy trying to wrap its bureaucratic head around the new regime and had little to say on the matter until well into February.  For the most part, what all of this publicity has produced is CONFUSION!

The following email I received is a perfect example:

“I will turn 66 in June; my husband has already started taking his benefits.  I was planning to take spousal benefits and wait till 70 to take mine, but the law has changed and my birthday is about a month after the cutoff date.  This sudden change in the law is distressing and confusing.  What should I do?” (more…)