Please Note: Filing for and suspending your retirement benefit is not the same as or a part of restricting your application to your spousal benefit only and it is important not to conflate these mutually exclusive procedures: if you do one, you can't do the other.
Filing and suspending means filing for and then, either immediately or some time later, suspending receipt of a retirement benefit. There are still various reasons to do so and though the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 eliminated some of the previous incentives, it in no way ended the ability to suspend a retirement benefit after filing for it.
Unless a retirement benefit was filed for and suspended before the 4/29/2016 deadline to do so under the old rules, no one can receive auxiliary benefits, e.g. a spousal benefit, while the record holder's retirement benefit is suspended. Before the new law, it was possible for others to receive auxiliary benefits on the record of someone who had suspended their retirement benefit but this is now true only for those who suspended their retirement benefit under the old rules on or before the 4/29/2016 deadline.
Also due to the BBA 2015, no one who has suspended their retirement benefit can receive a benefit based on another's record, e.g. a spousal benefit, while their retirement benefit is suspended. Despite these changes, there are still good reasons to file and suspend a retirement benefit and doing so might be part of the maximized strategy or it may be an option worth exploring in the what-if section.
When you reach full retirement age, you can file for your Social Security retirement benefit, immediately suspend collection of that benefit, and then start collection of your retirement benefit anytime in the future before or at 70. For people who suspended on or before the 4/29/2016 deadline to do so under the old rules, this can, though with some restrictions based on your spouse's birthdates, permit your spouse or ex-spouse to receive a spousal benefit based on your earning history.
Also, by delaying your retirement past your full retirement age, you will earn Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs) at the rate of 8% per year that will increase your retirement benefit. Those who suspend after 4/29/2016 cannot collect a benefit on someone else's record while their retirement benefit is suspended and no one else can collect an auxiliary benefit on the record of the person who suspended after 4/29/2016 while their retirement benefit is suspended. See our FAQ on the effects of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 for more information on the new law.