Please Note: Filing for and suspending your retirement benefit is not the same as or a part of restricting your application to your spousal benefit only and it is important not to conflate these mutually exclusive procedures: if you do one, you can't do the other.

Filing a restricted application simply means filing for only one benefit when the recipient is eligible for more than just that one benefit. So filing for your retirement benefit, even if you suspend it, at the same time or before you file for your spousal benefit is, by definition, not a restricted application.

To model an individual filing a restricted application, simply enter that the individual will file for only one benefit, e.g. a spousal benefit, at a specific date and will file for another benefit, e.g. a retirement benefit, at a later date. Note that you can't enter what-if scenarios that SSA won't allow. If you attempt to do so, the message(s) will explain the problem(s).

Also note that only those born on or before 1/1/1954 can restrict their applications and can only do so at or after their full retirement age (FRA). Those born on or after 1/2/1954 can never restrict their applications to their spousal benefit only.

Learn More: What is a restricted application?