Social Security Claiming Strategies Have Changed

If your Social Security strategy came from a retirement book published 10 or 15 years ago, there is a real possibility that part of it is obsolete. Congress eliminated or restricted some of the best-known claiming techniques, including the old “file and suspend” strategy and most restricted applications for spousal benefits. Yet Social Security planning itself is far from dead. Retirees can still increase benefits by delaying, coordinating retirement and survivor benefits, improving their earnings record, and in some circumstances reconsidering a claiming decision they already made. The challenge in 2026 is knowing which Social Security claiming strategies still work and which belong in the retirement-planning history books.

The Old Restricted Spousal-Benefit Strategy Is Essentially Gone

One of the most famous strategies once allowed certain married people to claim only a spousal benefit while letting their own retirement benefit earn delayed retirement credits. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 changed those rules through “deemed filing,” and Social Security explains that most people eligible for both retirement and spousal benefits can no longer choose to take only the spousal benefit while delaying their own. Instead, filing generally means they are deemed to have applied for both benefits and receive the higher combined amount for which they qualify. A narrow grandfathered exception involved people born before January 2, 1954, but those individuals are now at least 72 years old, putting the strategy beyond the normal claiming window for retirement benefits.

You May Be Able to Undo an Early Claim But There Are Two Different Rules

Someone who regrets claiming Social Security early should first determine how long ago the claim began because the available options can be very different. Social Security allows certain beneficiaries to withdraw a retirement application within 12 months of becoming entitled to benefits, although generally they must repay benefits received as well as certain amounts paid on their behalf. Withdrawal effectively treats the original application much differently from voluntary suspension, which becomes available after reaching full retirement age and can be used to earn delayed retirement credits until 70. A person who is past the withdrawal window but has reached full retirement age may therefore still have a second opportunity to increase future payments through suspension. Before choosing either route, calculate the repayment requirement, lost current income, Medicare implications, and effect on anyone receiving benefits on your record.

“File and Suspend” No Longer Works the Way Couples Remember

Another old strategy involved one spouse filing for retirement benefits at full retirement age and then suspending payments so a spouse could collect benefits on that worker’s record while the worker earned delayed credits. Congress also closed that version of the strategy, and Social Security says that for suspension requests made on or after April 30, 2016, benefits payable to a spouse or other qualifying family member on the worker’s record generally stop during the suspension as well. Voluntary suspension itself still exists, but it is no longer a tool that ordinarily allows a married couple to collect a spousal benefit while the worker’s payment simultaneously grows. Divorced-spouse benefits are an important exception because an eligible divorced spouse’s payment can continue even when the former spouse voluntarily suspends retirement benefits.

Delaying Your Own Retirement Benefit Still Works

One strategy has not disappeared: waiting beyond full retirement age can still increase your retirement benefit. Social Security’s delayed retirement credit rules provide an 8% annual increase for people born in 1943 or later, calculated monthly, for eligible delays after full retirement age until age 70. For someone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67, and waiting until 70 results in a retirement benefit equal to 124% of the full-retirement-age amount. If the full-retirement-age benefit were $2,500, that simplified example would mean about $3,100 per month at 70 before future cost-of-living adjustments are considered. Delaying is not right for everyone, but among current Social Security claiming strategies, it remains one of the most straightforward ways to secure a larger monthly retirement benefit.

Survivor Benefits Still Have an Important Exception

Widows and widowers have planning flexibility that many married retirees no longer have because deemed filing does not apply to survivor benefits. Social Security gives the example of an eligible widow beginning survivor benefits at 62 while leaving her own retirement benefit untouched so it can grow, then switching to the larger retirement benefit at 70.

Suppose a widow at 62 qualifies for a survivor benefit but also has a retirement benefit based on her own work history. Depending on the amounts involved, she may be able to claim the survivor benefit first while allowing her retirement benefit to continue growing, then switch to her own benefit later. The best sequence depends on the actual benefit amounts, ages, earnings, and longevity expectations, so this is a situation where personalized SSA estimates matter.

Depending on the amounts and claiming ages involved, the opposite sequence may sometimes make more sense, taking one’s own retirement benefit first and switching to a larger survivor benefit later. Survivor full retirement age can also differ from retirement full retirement age, so the timing should be calculated using the beneficiary’s actual birth date and benefit estimates rather than a generic rule of thumb.

Married Couples Can Still Plan Around the Survivor’s Future Income

Married couples may have lost some old claiming techniques, but coordinating benefits as a household still matters. One particularly important consideration is whether the higher earner should delay because delayed retirement credits can increase that person’s payment and potentially the survivor benefit available if that spouse dies first. Social Security’s rules make an important distinction: delayed retirement credits do not increase the maximum regular spousal benefit while both spouses are alive in the same way they increase the worker’s retirement benefit. However, the higher benefit created through delayed retirement credits can matter when calculating what an eligible surviving spouse receives later. Instead of searching for a loophole that creates an extra check today, couples may get more practical value from asking how their Social Security claiming strategies affect whichever spouse ultimately lives the longest.

Consider a couple in which one spouse has a substantially larger Social Security benefit. The decision about when that higher earner claims isn’t necessarily just about how many checks that person will collect. If the higher earner dies first, the surviving spouse may eventually depend on that larger Social Security payment for years. That means couples should ask not only, “When do we break even by delaying?” but also, “What monthly income do we want the surviving spouse to have?”

You Can Still Suspend Benefits After Full Retirement Age

Someone who claimed Social Security and later regrets the decision may still have an opportunity to increase future payments. Social Security says people who have reached full retirement age but have not yet reached 70 can voluntarily suspend retirement benefits and earn delayed retirement credits during the suspension. Payments generally stop beginning the month after the request and can resume when requested, with suspension ending no later than the month before age 70. The catch is significant: during voluntary suspension, benefits paid to others on your record generally stop as well, with an exception for qualifying divorced spouses, and you generally cannot collect another Social Security benefit on somebody else’s record during the suspension.

Medicare deserves attention before suspending benefits as well. If Part B premiums were being deducted from your Social Security payment, that deduction cannot continue while retirement benefits are suspended, and CMS will bill you instead. Missing those payments could put Medicare coverage at risk, so beneficiaries should understand how premiums will be handled before requesting suspension.

Continuing to Work Can Still Raise Your Benefit

Claiming age is not the only variable that determines the size of a retirement check because Social Security also considers your earnings history. The agency calculates retirement benefits using your highest 35 years of earnings, and years with no earnings can count as zeros when someone has fewer than 35 years. Even someone with 35 years on the record can potentially benefit from additional work when a new higher-earning year replaces an older lower-earning year in the calculation. Continuing to work while delaying benefits can therefore produce two potential advantages: adding stronger earnings to the record and earning delayed retirement credits after full retirement age. This is one of the Social Security claiming strategies that can be overlooked when retirees focus exclusively on whether they should file at 62, 67, or 70.

Before You Claim Social Security, Write Down These 6 Numbers

Your benefit at 62
Your benefit at full retirement age
Your benefit at 70
Your spouse’s benefit at those same ages
The estimated survivor benefit each spouse could receive
Your expected monthly retirement expenses

Those six numbers turn an abstract claiming debate into a household income decision. They also make it easier to see whether delaying one spouse’s benefit creates meaningful survivor protection or whether current cash-flow needs make an earlier claim more practical.

The Best Social Security Strategy Isn’t a Loophole Anymore

The era of clever filing maneuvers that allowed many couples to collect one Social Security benefit while another grew has largely ended. What remains are decisions that can still affect thousands of dollars of retirement income: when you claim, whether you continue working, how spouses coordinate benefits, how survivor income is protected, and whether correcting an earlier claiming decision makes sense. Before filing, compare your personalized benefit estimates at several claiming ages and consider what happens not only during the first years of retirement but after one spouse dies. Advice remembered from a retirement seminar 10 years ago may no longer reflect today’s rules, so verify the strategy against current Social Security Administration retirement-planning guidance before acting.

Which matters more in your Social Security decision? Getting checks sooner or locking in the largest monthly benefit you reasonably can? Share your approach in the comments.

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Drew Blankenship

Drew Blankenship is a seasoned personal finance and lifestyle writer with more than a decade of professional writing experience crafting clear, actionable advice that helps savers and investors over 40 protect their wealth and make smarter everyday decisions. His bylines appear regularly on SavingAdvice.com, CleverDude.com, and other respected outlets, where he draws on deep industry knowledge to deliver practical insights on cost control, smart spending, and long-term financial security.