I filed and suspended my benefit at age 66, taking 1/2 of my wife's benefit at that time. My own account at ssa.gov now shows my benefit as active and will not show any projection of my own benefit at age 70. Is this normal?

Hi,

Hopefully, you didn't actually file and suspend on your own record, since that would keep you from receiving a full spousal benefit. Once you file on your own account, that becomes your primary benefit, even if you choose to suspend it. If that was the case, you would only be getting an excess spousal benefit, and then only if your wife's full benefit was more than twice as much as your own.

What you should have done, and likely did, was to file a restricted application for spousal benefits only. That would allow you to receive a full spousal benefit, while still accruing delayed retirement credits on your own account until age 70. If you have your award letter or other correspondence from SSA, and it shows your claim number as your wife's SSN with a 'B' at the end, then you're okay. If you had filed and suspended, your claim number would show up as your own SSN with an 'A' at the end.

As far as your inability to get an estimate on ssa.gov, I believe that they stop making those available after you reach full retirement age or have applied for benefits. I'm not sure about that, though.

Best, Jerry