Social Security Literacy for Insurance Agents

My Journey to Becoming Social Security Literate

In 2011 I began learning about Social Security. I am in the middle of the Baby Boomers and up until that time I had not given it much thought. I would see the estimated monthly benefit but not realize the significant amount of income this would provide for me throughout my retirement years.

Then I began learning the rules – how we become eligible for benefits and how those benefits are calculated, what FRA and PIA are, my options as a divorced woman who had taken time off and worked part-time raising my children – it was overwhelmingly complicated.

As a civil engineer, I am very detail oriented and love solving puzzles. My self-taught journey into the “tangled world” of Social Security rules was compelling and I literally became obsessed with understanding the details and sharing them with my friends and family, to their bewilderment!

In 2013 an opportunity opened for me to teach a basic Social Security course online for CPAs and I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, I did not yet understand the rigorous requirements needed to meet the high standards of continuing education for NASBA. The first webinar presentations were a challenge, scary really, and a wake-up call on what it takes to meet the expectations of the audience. I was required to repeat several to meet the audience evaluation score needed to be a presenter.

I realized that I needed the credibility of a retirement financial designation if I was going to pursue Social Security education and advice, so I enrolled in the CRPC course and passed the exam early in 2014. With my confidence on less shaky ground, I felt confident enough to start a business, Shedden Social Security and Retirement Planning.

I began offering free Social Security educational presentations in my community and providing claiming decision analyses and advice for a fee. I found that I enjoyed this very much and that helping people make their most optimal Social Security claiming decision was extremely satisfying. I was passionate and obsessed with helping as many people as I could!

In late 2016 I met my co-founder and business partner, Michael Rosedale, a CPA who knew I was teaching online continuing education on Social Security to CPAs. He was getting questions from his clients, and being a very entrepreneurial individual, proposed that we go into business together.

We formed NARSSA in 2017 and began selling our five-module Social Security program in August of 2018.

Empowering Professionals with Knowledge and Technology

I am driven and committed to helping individuals become more informed about Social Security and retirement planning because I now understand the enormous part that Social Security plays in all Americans’ retirement finances. Social Security is the program that provides the primary defense against economic insecurity for seniors.

The statistics are powerful:

• Approximately 20% of retirees rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their retirement income
• Roughly 19 million seniors may be living solely on Social Security
• For up to 40% of retirees, Social Security is their ONLY income in retirement
• Without Social Security, the number of retirees falling below the poverty line would increase by over 16 million people.

The decision of when and how to claim, and the assistance and information needed to make this decision, should be available to all Americans, regardless of their income, assets, or any other seemingly required qualification to be able to retire confidently.

The segments of our society that are most in need of this service are those with little other resources, women who have had low earnings, marginalized lower income populations, and others for whom Social Security is literally the largest retirement financial decision they will make.

Social Security Literacy: The Missing Link in Modern Insurance Advice

For decades, Social Security has been treated as a government benefit clients “figure out later.” Yet today, it represents the largest guaranteed lifetime income stream most Americans will ever receive. It is the foundation upon which every insurance and retirement strategy is built.

As longevity increases, family structures evolve, and retirement risks shift from institutions to individuals, one thing has become clear: Social Security literacy is no longer optional for advisors or the enterprises that support them.

What is Social Security Literacy?

Social Security literacy is the ability to understand, interpret, explain, and apply Social Security rules accurately to real-life financial decisions across retirement, disability, survivor, and family benefit situations.

It goes beyond knowing when to claim. A Social Security literate professional understands:

• How benefits are calculated (PIA, FRA, credits, reductions)
• How work, earnings, taxes, Medicare, and family status affect benefits
• How life events, such as marriage, divorce, caregiving, disability, and death, can change eligibility
• How claiming decisions permanently shape lifetime income and household risk exposure

Social Security literacy is income literacy for the longest-lasting retirement benefit most Americans will ever receive. It sits at the core of sound financial and insurance planning.

Why Insurance Advisors Can’t Afford to Be Social Security Illiterate

Social Security is the base layer of retirement income and therefore insurance recommendations sit on top of it.

Insurance products are designed to manage the risks of longevity, inflation, health costs, and survivor protection. Social Security addresses all of these risks first.

Without Social Security literacy, advisors may:

• Layer annuities on top of benefits without understanding income timing conflicts
• Miss spousal, survivor, or dependent benefits entirely
• Misjudge longevity risk by ignoring delayed credits
• Create tax inefficiencies that reduce net retirement income
• Undermine client trust when benefits don’t align with expectations
• Recommend income products that duplicate or conflict with benefits

By contrast, advisors who are Social Security literate can:

• Coordinate insurance solutions with guaranteed benefits
• Identify overlooked family benefits that materially improve outcomes
• Protect widows, caregivers, and disabled family members
• Design income strategies that coordinate annuities, life insurance, and benefits
• Identify overlooked family benefits that improve client outcomes
• Build trust by explaining complex rules clearly and confidently

In today’s financial and insurance environments, and in professions built on trust, not understanding Social Security is a planning risk for both clients and advisors.

True literacy isn’t memorization. It’s judgment, context, and coordination.

What It Really Takes to Be Social Security Literate

True literacy requires more than rule memorization. It rests on three pillars:

1. Technical understanding Understanding the Social Security rules, formulas, and eligibility pathways available to clients is critical. Being able to address common misconceptions such as the earnings tests, family maximum benefits, Medicare timing, and the taxation of Socials Security benefits will set you apart from others.
2. Applied judgment, skills Using Social Security knowledge in complex, real-world situations and being able to apply those rules to messy, real-life scenarios highlights your deep understanding. Working with blended families and divorced couples, caregivers and disabled adult children, retirees still working, and an early death in a young family all require an understanding of how multiple SSA rules work together.
3. Communication confidence Being able to explain complex tradeoffs in plain language so clients understand why a strategy works, not just what steps to take, can help clients make informed, irreversible decisions with clarity, not fear. Literacy shows up not in perfect answers, but in better decisions.

The Role of Technology: Expanding Access to Social Security Literacy

Historically, Social Security expertise was locked inside dense manuals, government websites, or a handful of specialists. That barrier limited access for both advisors and the public. Today, technology is changing that.

Tools like the RSSA® Roadmap software have opened new doors for Social Security literacy among both individuals and advisors by translating complex SSA rules into intuitive options. Technology generated visuals of scenario-based modeling makes tradeoffs, such as claiming ages, spousal coordination, and survivor impacts, easily explained by advisors and understood by clients.

Advisors gain the confidence by knowing that benefits are being analyzed accurately and consistently. Individuals can engage meaningfully in decisions that affect their lifetime income.

Technology doesn’t replace expertise. It scales it and turns Social Security literacy from an elite skill into an enterprise capability.

For insurance organizations, this shift matters. Technology-enabled literacy improves advisor confidence and consistency, reduces compliance and reputational risk, elevates the quality of client conversations and strengthens the link between public benefits and private solutions.

The Key Leadership Takeaway

If there is one thing insurance enterprise leaders should remember, it is this: Social Security is not a side topic. It is the core infrastructure for retirement income planning.

Enterprises that treat Social Security literacy as foundational, not optional, will better train and prepare advisors, deliver more integrated client outcomes, and differentiate themselves in an increasingly complex longevity economy.

In the future of insurance advice, literacy is leverage, and Social Security literacy may be the most underutilized leverage of all.