Sean Reading, CFP • Palmyra, PA
The North Star Financial Group LLC • J.W. Cole Financial Inc.
Our financial-education seminar program is one of our firm’s most successful strategies for introducing ourselves to prospective clients.
We have found that the topic of Social Security planning and claiming strategies draws tremendous interest in our area among pre-retirees and those already retired. We regularly hold educational classes at local libraries, museums, or restaurants.
We use a third-party resource to help us identify potential attendees and plan the event. Our goal is to have members of 12 to 15 households at each event, and we generally achieve that.
The program covers the importance of selecting the right Social Security claiming strategy for clients and their spouses, demystifies some of the terminology, and broadly examines some of the pros and cons of different claiming strategies.
We address questions that retirees typically have, which include the following:
- Will Social Security be there for me?
- How much can I expect to receive?
- When should I apply for Social Security?
- How can I maximize my benefits?
- Will Social Security be enough to live on in retirement?
- What are the trade-offs of claiming early, at full retirement age, or later?
- How do spousal benefits work?
- What are survivor benefits?
- How can I minimize taxes on Social Security benefits?
- What role does Social Security play in an overall retirement-income plan?
Related Article: Encouraging prospective clients to have a ‘transformative conversation’
While the classes provide detailed, useful information, we emphasize that each client’s situation is different. The best way to understand how to maximize Social Security benefits in the context of overall retirement planning is to work with a qualified financial advisor to build a full financial plan.
We offer no-obligation meetings to seminar attendees who are interested in learning more about this and other topics. Our success rate in obtaining those first meetings has been very strong. Once we meet with an individual or a couple, we have equally strong results in developing a new client relationship.
Disclosure: Securities offered through J.W. Cole Financial Inc. (JWC). Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. (JWCA). The North Star Financial Group LLC and JWC/JWCA are separate and unaffiliated entities.
CFP is a registered trademark of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. (CFP Board).
Photography by Jeremy Hess
