Rethinking Social Security: Helping Your Clients Make Sense (and Cents) of Potential Changes

Learning Objectives

• To identify potential changes to our current Social Security system.
• To analyze how those changes could impact taxes, retirement timelines, and financial planning.
• To review how we got here and why taking action is so important.
• To explore alternatives to our reliance on social security.

Course Description

This course is valid up to December 31st, 2024 for CFP Professionals. It is advisable to complete this course before that to process the credit on time.

Social Security was first signed into existence by President Roosevelt in 1935 as a safety net following the Great Depression. In the decades since, many of the original calculations underlying it have changed. No, longer do we have the numbers of workers paying into the system, additional beneficiaries have been added, and the average retiree lives far longer than was the norm in 1935. These factors have contributed to the dire financial health of the social security system in general, and the trust fund, in particular.

Long considered the third rail of politics, politicians since the 1970s have refused to find a solution. Now, it is clear that changes have to be made. There is no shortage of proposed bills (6 or 7, at last count, are floating around although few stand any chance of being brought to a vote). As politicians weigh in on how to fix Social Security, one thing is clear: our current system WILL change. It's the HOW and the resulting IMPACT that is unknown.

Your clients, both working and retired, have questions. How will my income change? How will my taxes change? Will I be able to rely on social security benefits for myself?

You have an opportunity to add value to clients by initiating these conversations and helping them think through their options. All of us are rethinking social security and wondering how we will be impacted; you will appreciate this course for its focus on the items your clients want and need to know.

This CPE Finance webinar looks at the tax and financial implications of potential changes. We’ll then explore ways to plan and stay financially healthy despite the potential changes. 

This course is led by Ilene Slatko, a speaker and serial entrepreneur who currently coaches clients working through the long tail of administrative and financial tasks involved in the estate and divorce process. She spent over 30 years in the financial industry and has long been a resource for financial and accounting professionals.

Key Topics Covered:

• Social Security from A - Z
• Potential Changes and Their Impact
• Ramifications and Planning Strategies
• Retirement Timelines
• Tough Questions – Alternatives to Social Security

Whether you are a financial or accounting professional or are curious about your planning, this CPE webinar will inform and instruct you regarding a social security reckoning.

Overview

• MassMutual Quiz

  3 mins
• More social security facts

  11 mins
• Increasing social security base for taxes

  18 mins
• Tax consequences

  30 mins
• Heading back to the three-legged stool model

  44 mins