Overview
Just before Howard DiSavino, a dedicated financial planner and loving husband and father, unexpectedly lost his wife to cancer when she was only 54 years old, Social Security planning was the last thing on either spouse’s mind.
After all, the full retirement age (FRA) for most beneficiaries is 66 to 67, and like many couples, they assumed they had time.
Unfortunately, because they hadn’t yet considered a Social Security filing strategy, they missed the opportunity to leverage and potentially maximize her benefits for their family’s future.
This experience opened Howard’s eyes to the crucial role that Social Security plays in ensuring financial stability, especially in the event of an unexpected loss. It was a lesson learned too late for his wife, but one he would carry forward — with the help of Social Security Pro — to prevent his clients from facing a similar situation.
The Challenges and Overlooked Importance of Informed Social Security Planning
As Howard navigated the aftermath of losing his spouse, dealing with both his grief and the financial complexities, he recognized how even well-planned finances can fall short without a comprehensive understanding of Social Security benefits.
Like his wife, many of his financial planning clients are in their fifties. In their fifties, people often focus on other financial priorities, such as paying off debt, supporting children through college, or caring for aging parents. Social Security might seem far off, and they may not prioritize it until closer to retirement. Many assume they’ll live a long, healthy life and believe they’ll have more time later to think about filing.
Not only that but the rules around Social Security are complex, and many people feel overwhelmed by the various options, such as the impact of taking benefits early, delaying benefits, or coordinating spousal benefits.
Howard knew the importance of presenting distinct Social Security scenarios for various stages of mid to late adulthood.
“We're all rushing to get to that end goal — retirement — and when we get there, we keep pushing it out. We obviously can't take Social Security until 62. But if you raise the gap on some assets, then as soon as you hit 62, you can consider turning on your income, enjoying life, and letting the rest of the assets grow for later on. So, Social Security actually can help people realize they can retire.”
– Howard DiSavino Jr., CFS Financial Advisor
The problem was that manually calculating and analyzing a wide range of Social Security filing strategies is time-consuming, prone to errors, and often less effective than using specialized financial planning software.
Social Security is typically one piece of a larger retirement income puzzle that includes pensions, 401(k)s, IRAs, and other savings. Coordinating these different income sources to avoid unnecessary tax burdens or gaps in retirement income adds complexity to manual calculations.
Additional factors that make manual Social Security calculations particularly challenging include:
- Age Factors: The amount of your Social Security benefits changes based on when you claim them. Manually calculating how these decisions affect lifetime benefits requires projecting multiple scenarios and analyzing the long-term financial impact.
- Spousal and Survivor Benefits: Manually determining the optimal way to combine your own benefits with spousal or survivor benefits is complicated, especially when each spouse has their own work history and claiming options.
- Inflation Adjustments: Social Security benefits are adjusted annually based on inflation, known as Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA).
- Tax Implications: Benefits may be subject to federal income taxes depending on your total income, including retirement accounts and pensions.
- Life Expectancy Considerations: Calculating the trade-offs between early and delayed claiming can be tricky because you need to estimate how long you’ll live to determine the best strategy for maximizing lifetime benefits.
It was then he set out to identify a financial planning software tool thoughtfully designed to optimize Social Security decisions.
Adopting Social Security Pro: A Game-Changer for Optimized Client Strategies
Seeking a more effective way to evaluate and communicate Social Security filing strategies with his clients, Howard learned about Advisor Controls’ Social Security Pro through his longtime mentor, who was a strong advocate for the software.
Because of the corporate structure of his financial advisory firm and its parent company, Howard was required to choose from a pre-approved list of platforms for his new Social Security planning tool. Fortunately, Social Security Pro was on the list, and with strong recommendations from his mentor and other trusted colleagues, the decision to adopt the software was an easy one.
As Howard began integrating Social Security Pro into his practice, he was immediately impressed with its detailed analysis of various filing scenarios. Its user-friendly interface and advanced algorithms allowed him to tailor Social Security strategies to each client’s unique needs with precision.
“I work with clients every day trying to figure out how to integrate their assets into their retirement. A lot of my clients have pensions, and that's great, but they're overlooking Social Security and what a valuable asset it is. It’s really supposed to be one of the largest income sources for most people. So, I like to use Social Security Pro to help show that and help them determine what's best.”
– Howard DiSavino Jr., CFS Financial Advisor
With its ability to simulate various financial scenarios and optimize benefit strategies, the software became an invaluable resource in his practice, allowing him to help clients maximize their financial legacy for future generations.
How Social Security Pro Transformed Howard’s Practice
As Howard continued to leverage Social Security Pro at his firm, it became even more apparent that careful Social Security planning and the right tools can make a profound difference in securing a family’s financial future.
Howard found the following benefits to be particularly transformative:
Comprehensive Outputs
The Social Security Pro platform features interactive sliders and a benefits intensity grid, allowing Howard to easily adjust key factors and determine whether small adjustments will result in significant changes in benefits.
The software also allows for side-by-side comparisons of different Social Security filing strategies. Whether Howard needed to compare the optimal strategy with a client’s current plan or explore different filing age combinations, this feature presents the benefits and drawbacks of each option, empowering clients to make informed decisions.
Additionally, the platform generates detailed graphs and ledgers, providing a year-by-year breakdown of benefits, tax implications, and breakeven points. These visual aids and detailed action plans help Howard explain complex strategies in a straightforward manner, making it easier for clients to understand and trust the recommendations.
More Accurate Filing Strategies
“There's a substantial amount of error in someone trying to manually calculate potential benefits. You look at clients’ statements and do the quick math, but you may not look at cost-of-living increases, or you may forget the idea that both spouses are potentially taking income until the event of someone's passing. These nuances can be overlooked when you rely on a quick mathematical formula.”
– Howard DiSavino Jr., CFS Financial Advisor
With every change in the sliders or grid, the software runs hundreds of calculations, applying thousands of Social Security rules to compare various filing options. It instantly suggests the best filing strategy while showing the lifetime financial difference between different choices.
These insights enabled Howard to help his clients reallocate resources and meticulously plan for future needs — without the guesswork.
Saved Time
Social Security Pro saves time by automating complex calculations, instantly analyzing different claiming strategies, tax implications, and benefit combinations without the need for manual input. Howard was able to quickly run pre-built scenarios, make real-time adjustments to variables like filing age or life expectancy, and receive instant updates, eliminating repetitive recalculations.
The software also generates detailed, professional reports and visuals in under five minutes, streamlining client presentations and improving efficiency in meetings.
By centralizing all necessary data and offering easy-to-understand comparisons, Social Security Pro significantly reduces the time spent on preparing and explaining Social Security strategies, allowing Howard to focus more on client goals.
Turning Loss into Legacy
“Before Social Security Pro, I think we probably did a poor job of expressing how Social Security is an income asset and articulating what the best filing strategies might be. We still did it, but I don't feel like we did a great job of it until we began using Advisor Controls’ platform.”
– Howard DiSavino Jr., CFS Financial Advisor
Today, Howard is grateful for the support and clarity Social Security Pro has provided to both his advisory firm and his clients. He reflects on his personal journey of losing a spouse, an experience that underscored the importance of informed decision-making when it comes to Social Security planning.
His story has fueled his passion for ensuring clients fully understand the impact of Social Security decisions and that they’re equipped with the right tools to make thoughtful choices that protect their loved ones.
To discover how Social Security Pro can bolster your retirement planning services, start a free 14-day trial.
