The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, signed by President Obama
near the end of last year, eliminates a strategy that allowed
married couples to maximize their Social Security benefits.
Referred to as the "apply-and-suspend" strategy, it
allowed couples to take advantage of spousal benefits and delayed
retirement credits simultaneously. Congress concluded that the
strategy threatened to harm the program's finances by
undermining the formulas that ensure Social Security beneficiaries
receive roughly the same amount of lifetime benefits regardless of
when they claim them.
How did it Work?
A worker who reaches retirement age, currently 66, can elect to
receive benefits or delay receipt and earn additional retirement
credits, often at six or even eight percent per year. The spouse of
the worker would also be eligible to receive spousal benefits, but
only once the main beneficiary began receiving theirs. The strategy
allowed the spouse to claim a spousal benefit, even when
