What is a restricted application and can I still use it?

A restricted application let a married person claim only a spousal benefit while letting their own retirement benefit grow with delayed credits, then switch to their own larger benefit at 70. The 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act phased this out. Today, only people born on or before January 1, 1954 can still file a restricted application — and they have all already passed age 70, so for retirement-versus-spousal claiming the strategy is effectively closed. There is one important exception: the restricted-application concept still lives on with survivor benefits. A widow or widower can claim a survivor benefit while delaying their own retirement benefit to 70, or vice versa, because survivor and retirement benefits remain separate filings. So if you are widowed, you may still sequence the two. Sequence your survivor and retirement claims at wealthserene.com/tools/social-security-optimizer.