I retired at 62 in 2015 and I filed for social security benefit. Within a week from my application I received a lucrative offer for a consulting position, and I decided to suspend my SS immediately. I never received any benefits.
Last week I noticed a considerable deposit in my checking account from SS. I immediately called them. They told that the lump sum was for 2016 without any other information and that a letter will be coming explaining why I received this money. Please note that I never contacted or changed my status wit the SSA. My status still specifies suspended.
I would like to send back the lump sum because I have the feeling it will affect my monthly payments in the future (I would like to start my SS at FRA next year).
What do I do? It is already a week and I did not receive any letter.

Hi,

I can only guess, but it sounds like your 2016 earnings were probably low enough for you to be due some benefits that year and the lump-sum you received represents the benefits due. The Social Security earnings test would have required withholding of $1 of your benefits for each $2 that you earned in excess of $15,720 in 2016. You cannot voluntarily suspend your benefits before your full retirement age (FRA), so if your earnings weren't high enough to cause all of your benefits to be suspended then you likely have no option but to accept the benefits. If you had changed your mind about wanting to receive reduced benefits, you could have withdrawn your application rather than just requesting suspension of your benefits due to your expected earnings. However, you normally have only one year from your original month of entitlement in which to request withdrawal (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/withdrawal.html).

If that is in fact what happened, it's possible that the same thing will play out for the year 2017. It takes some time for Social Security to verify your annual earnings and to process any back pay due, unless you report your earnings to them at the end of the year.

You should receive a letter from Social Security explaining the payment you received, but it can take as long as 2 weeks after the electronic payment is made for the letters to arrive. If the payment is correct, then you are right about it affecting your benefit rate. Your benefit rate will be permanently reduced based on the equivalent of the number of months that you end up being paid for prior to your FRA.

Remember, though, all of this is just a best guess on my part based on what you've described in your question. If the letter you receive indicates something different, then you'll likely need to work it out with Social Security.

Best, Jerry