Social Security Deemed Filing: Why You Can't Pick and Choose Anymore
Watch on YouTube Deemed filing changed everything in 2015. Under current rules, filing for any Social Security benefit automatically triggers an application for all benefits - and SSA pays the higher. The old restricted application strategy (file spousal, let own benefit grow, switch at 70) is gone for anyone born after January 1, 1954. This episode explains who was grandfathered, what file and suspend still does, how divorced spouses face different rules, and what modern coordination strategy looks like. Check the next video in this playlist to continue.
▶ Watch next: Social Security Divorce: The 10-Year Marriage Rule for Benefits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zols9_XGPi8
📺 Full playlist: Social Security (US - 2026) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlIAFxS296491LWfYsLp6anRyo6_DO_pI
Chapters
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 closed the "file spousal, switch to own later" loophole for anyone born after January 1, 1954. Now, filing for either benefit is treated as filing for both — SSA pays the higher. This episode explains who still qualifies for the old rules (almost nobody), and what strategies remain.
Key Topics
- What deemed filing means: one application = filing for both benefits
- The January 2, 1954 cutoff date
- The old "restricted application" loophole and who can still use it
- File and suspend: mostly gone but one remnant still useful
- Claim-and-switch for divorced spouses (different rule)
- Strategy under the new rules: optimize based on which benefit is higher
- How to time the claim when one spouse delays