My plan is to defer SS benefits until age 70. (turning 67 in October, retired 1/31/2020)
My estimated benefits are going down. Why?
How do I freeze my earnings record? I want my estimated benefits to be based on my last 10 year "earnings".
Can I file and suspend benefits in order to freeze my earnings record?

Hi. Your estimated benefit may have gone down, but that doesn't mean that your actual benefit rate did. My guess is that your previous estimated benefit rate was based in part on expected future earnings that didn't materialize because you stopped working.

You can't freeze your earnings record, nor would it make any difference in your benefit rate if you could. And, filing for and suspending your benefits wouldn't cause you to get a higher benefit rate than if you simply wait until age 70 to claim your benefits.

All Social Security retirement benefit rates are calculated based on an average of the person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings, not 5 years or 10 years which are common misconceptions. Your benefit rate won't go down because you've stopped working, it simply won't increase like it might have if you had continued working and earned enough to replace one or more your previous highest 35 years of earnings.

Best, Jerry