Incorporate Social Security to grow

Retiring clients fear outliving their retirement savings, making the decision of when to collect Social Security incredibly important. Many clients are hardwired to believe they should collect as early as possible. However, there are many other options to consider and collecting at age 62 may not be optimal.

Social Security rules are complicated. But by understanding the basics, you can help your clients maximize their benefits and grow your practice.

Our Securing Your Retirement seminar and resources can help you:

• Boost Client Loyalty: Demonstrate the value you bring to their financial plan by helping them determine the right collection strategy.
• Increase Client Referrals: Clients tell their friends about Social Security tips and the advisor who shared them.
• Increase Center of Influence Referrals: Help your fellow professionals (e.g., CPAs, lawyers) answer their clients’ Social Security questions to boost referrals.

Set the foundation with seminars

Inviting prospective clients to a seminar gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your value through the education you provide.

The Securing Your Retirement seminar helps clients maximize benefits and gain confidence in their retirement plans.

Make sure to share client stories where choosing a different strategy led to a better financial or psychological outcome in order to truly engage your audience and get the most out of your event.

Convert prospects to clients

Whether you’re interacting with a prospective client from a seminar or one who came as a referral, help them set a strong foundation for retirement.

Tailor the conversation. Many clients lose out on benefits because they do not understand all the rules. The rules to focus on will vary based on family situation:

• Clients who have never married: Focus on the tradeoff of collecting smaller amounts earlier compared to collecting larger amounts later.
• Married clients: Pay extra attention to spousal and survivor benefits. Survivor benefits can transform the decision from individual to joint and last survivor.
• Divorced, unmarried clients: Determine if any previous marriage lasted at least 10 years. If so, they may be entitled to spousal or survivor benefits.
• Clients with minor children: Disabled children or children under the age of 18 (19 if still in high school) may be entitled to benefits.

Illustrate their tradeoffs. Run a custom analysis using the Social Security Benefits Estimator and discuss potential strategies. Help them select the right strategy for their situation by comparing lifetime benefits across four collection strategies and up to four longevity assumptions.

Consider investing for income. After maximizing their lifetime Social Security benefits, consider income products that bridge the gap between Social Security checks and the monthly income your retiring clients need.

Coach into retirement

Deciding when to begin taking Social Security benefits is important and multifaceted. These client-approved materials can help you ensure your clients are selecting the best collection strategy for their situation.