These provisions in Social Security filing are, without a doubt, the two that cause the most confusion. Being very complicated provisions and also provisions that can be very helpful to folks wishing to maximize benefits, file & suspend and restricted application are often mis-used or completely misunderstood. So at the suggestion of a reader, seeing a comment response I’d given to another reader, I will provide some additional background on just what is the difference between these two, as well as when one is used versus the other.
First of all – although it is technically possible for one person to both file & suspend and file a restricted application, typically this results in either no benefit at all or very little benefit. You should not consider both of these to be done by one person unless there are some extenuating circumstances that require it (I can’t for the life of me think of any at the moment but there’s bound to be at least one).
Here’s why:
When you file & suspend, you have established a filing date. If you have established a filing date, the only spousal benefit that you are eligible to receive is the excess – which is the spousal benefit minus your own benefit. If this turns out to be negative, you would receive no spousal benefit at all. If your intent is to delay your own benefit as long as possible you would be unnecessarily reducing the spousal benefit (or eliminating it altogether) by doing a file & suspend.
On the other hand, you can only file a restricted application if you have not established a filing date, and you can only file this at or after your FRA. By filing a restricted application, you are eligible for the full amount of the spousal benefit (50% of your spouse’s FRA-age benefit) with no reduction. Your spouse must have established a filing date for her retirement benefit to enable you to file the restricted application.
The restricted application is called so because you are applying NOT for all available benefits, but you are restricting your application to spousal benefits only. If your application is not restricted, SSA considers it an application for all available benefits as of your filing date. You would file a restricted application if you wanted to delay your retirement benefit but also receive a spousal benefit in the meantime (until you file for your own retirement benefit).
To help with understanding, have a look at this prior article File & Suspend and Restricted Application are NOT Equal. There are a few examples toward the end of the article which will likely help illustrate the differences between the two provisions.
Hope this helps to clear things up about file & suspend and restricted application – if not, let me know in the comments below!