Social Security Analysts Step Up as Program Faces Political Attacks

Moving forward, Shedden said, NARSSA is in a better position to help fill part of the void in customer services offered by the Social Security Administration, particularly now that the agency is undergoing staff cuts and funding challenges.

The NARSSA leadership team participated in their eight-week evaluation program designed to elevate promising early-stage AgeTech startups,” Shedden noted.

“It was a multi-step process that included an initial pitch, Zoom calls, consumer surveys and a final presentation. We’re so happy about the outcome, as only about 7% of the organizations that apply are accepted into the collaborative program,” she explained.

Shedden said being in the AgeTech Collaborative should help the firm elevate its reputation both with the public and the financial planning profession.

“This couldn’t have come at a better time, we believe,” Shedden said. “Our long-term hope is to grow the RSSA designation to be as recognizable as possible. We aspire to become a household name like the CFP designation.”

Here are some additional highlights from our discussion, edited for length and clarity.

THINKADVISOR: Before we talk about Social Security’s challenges, can you tell us more about the AARP AgeTech recognition?

MARTHA SHEDDEN: Absolutely. We couldn’t be happier to be included in this exclusive group of organizations in the AgeTech collaborative ecosystem. I’ve mentioned the importance of this recognition given the broader policy situation and the discussions happening in the media about Social Security’s funding and the false messaging about fraud and waste.

But something else I wanted to point out is that many of the organizations that have been accepted into the AgeTech Collaborative so far — and there are about 200 of them — are in the field of aging support technology, medical devices, in-home aging services and health-related technology.

I believe we are their first start-up that is solely focused on the question of Social Security claiming and retirement income planning, so that’s really rewarding for us. It feels good to get that recognition alongside all these other interesting organizations, and we’re going to make the most of the collaborative opportunities.

What other developments should we know about within the NARSSA?

Thanks for asking that, because we also recently hired a new CEO to really help us drive the next phase of growth of the RSSA designation, in Richard Capezzali. He is so engaged and interested in what our organization is all about, so we’re thrilled to have his leadership.

We see this as a win-win opportunity to get more attention so that we can get more people to earn the RSSA credential and support the advisor community and the public. We have some very exciting stuff on our roadmap to help us do that, and Richard’s leadership is going to be key to achieving our goals.

One big priority for us is to continue the growth of our RSSA Roadmap Lead Gen program. It gives RSSAs the ability to provide key audiences like clients and prospects with access to a powerful tool for optimizing Social Security benefits. RSSAs can potentially reach thousands of prospects every month while positioning themselves as the go-to resource for Social Security optimization.

Changing gears a little bit, do you have a sense of when the 2025 Social Security Trustees report will be published?

Well, the report is already late; it’s supposed to be due to Congress each year by April 1, but that deadline hasn’t been hit consistently for a long time now. The messaging out of the administration is that we will get the report sometime within the next three months, and they aren’t really signaling that the deadline is going to be important for them moving forward.

Something else I have heard recently is that they are going to be making a big change in how they roll out the data, which has normally been released all in one comprehensive report. Instead, I’ve heard, they are moving towards releasing the data in a more piecemeal approach, which I find to be a discouraging change.

The report is so useful to review every year because of its comprehensive presentation of the data, so it worries me to hear that they could be making some pretty fundamental changes to the process. At this point, we are still all waiting to see what will happen.

I imagine there’s little expectation that the projected insolvency dates will look any better this year?

Yes, essentially there’s no expectation that the financial picture of Social Security will look better in 2025, and for a few reasons. One big one is the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, which will result in billions of additional dollars flowing out of the trust fund starting this year, with retroactive payments included for 2024.

Depending on which estimate you look at, the law’s repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset will cost the system close to $200 billion over the next 10 years while advancing the trust fund’s depletion by about six months. That might not seem like much, but we’re at a point where we only have six or seven years to act.

Something else we are tracking is the proposal to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, which could also have an effect on the program’s funding outlook, since the taxes collected on Social Security benefits are a source of revenue for the program and contribute to its ability to pay benefits to current and future retirees and beneficiaries.

I wish we had a more optimistic message, but the funding outlook for Social Security remains concerning, and we all need to step up and advocate for the program.

What other Social Security topics are you thinking about these days?

We’ve been seeing a lot of interesting case studies that just underscore the importance of people working with the experts when they are making their claiming decisions. Delaying is often a good choice, but not always, so it's important to actually do the analysis with the right tools and expertise.

This is true for everyone, but especially if there’s a significant age difference between spouses, for example. In those cases, the timing of Social Security claims can be particularly complex.

An RSSA can develop a strategy that coordinates the claiming of benefits for both spouses, maximizing the higher earner’s benefit while ensuring the lower earner doesn’t miss out on spousal or survivor benefits.

We also continue to see so many questions about topics like survivor versus spousal benefits. If you are, or were, married, you may be eligible for spousal or survivor benefits based on your spouse’s or ex-spouse’s earnings. These benefits can sometimes provide more than your own retirement benefits.

Again, an RSSA can help you decide whether to claim your own benefits or switch to spousal or survivor benefits at the right time to optimize your household income.

Pictured: Martha Shedden