larry; In mid April 2016, I was 65 and my wife was 66. Obviously we were both born before the 1954 "Deemed" cut-off date. I learned about file and suspend and attempted to do so with me filing for spousal benefits on my wife's account. on the SS website. I received a letter from SS informing me that I could not file for spousal under a suspended account as I had not yet reached my FRA.
I reading one of your columns I believe that SS incorrectly read the rule in that one of us needs to be at FMR to use this strategy. Did I understand you correctly and is there an appeals process

Hi,

You can't file a restricted application for spousal benefits only until you reach full retirement age, which is age 66 in your case. If Social Security had processed your application for spousal benefits filed when you were age 65, you would be deemed to also be applying for benefits on your own account. You would then have essentially received the higher of the 2 benefits, and your benefit amount would have been permanently reduced.

What you want to do is file a restricted application for spousal benefits effective with the month you reach age 66. As long as your wife is receiving her benefits when you reach age 66, or if she filed and suspended her benefits prior to April 30 2016, you'll be able to receive spousal benefits for 4 years and you can then file separately for benefits on your own account at age 70.

This is only one of several possible filing strategies, so you may wish to run the maximization software available on this website in order to be sure that a better option isn't available.

Best, Jerry