The future of Social Security is as clear as mud. Many believe it will take care of them in retirement, while others believe the benefit's insolvency is just around the corner.

Unfortunately, only a small percentage of financial advisors describe themselves as very knowledgeable about Social Security (less than 25%!).

-Foundation for Financial Wellness

Video Transcript

Ok, so what might the future of Social Security look like?

The good news - This so-called “Echo Boom” will make up for the current system imbalance. There’s 80 million new contributors. These happen to be the Boomers’ kids.

However, recent changes in Washington will impact how you can file.

The bottom line is there are hundreds of ways to claim Social Security. You can’t afford to ignore the opportunity to strategize, optimize, and make your Social Security claim wisely.

The 2016/2017 Budget Bill made significant changes to Social Security. The intent was to close “unintended loopholes” that lawmakers claimed only benefited the wealthy. As we will see, these changes have already impacted everyone in one way or another.

Other changes are made every year that have an impact, so a big recommendation here - get some guidance.

You would think that you could ask the Social Security Administration for some guidance.

Great idea, but to quote from a survey of married couples age 60-66:

“We found that 77% of people expect to receive advice from the Social Security Administration (SSA) on how to maximize their Social Security Retirement benefits. In reality, most Social Security Administration personnel are not trained or equipped to dispense anything more than monthly benefit amounts at different election ages, and the SSA actually prohibits its representatives from dispensing advice.” 

So, find a financial professional. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of financial advisors describe themselves as very knowledgeable about Social Security (less than 25%!). Many financial professionals are not interested in giving advice to their clients to strategize or help maximize their benefits because it does not fit into their plan or business model.

So a quick review – How about any decisions to make or actions to take at this point?

One straightforward question for you on this one - Who are you going to engage to help you with the considerations, calculations, and your overall planning for your Social Security selections?

Is it your financial advisor, your accountant, your know-it-all brother-in-law? Just kidding, don’t ask him.

As always, don’t forget. You can take advantage of your private counseling session with us. It’s included. It’s private. It’s confidential, and it’s always with one of the Certified Financial Wellness Counselors here at the foundation. To schedule your counseling session, simply click on the “Request Counseling” button.