Richard D’Ambola • Succasunna, NJ
Richard D’Ambola & Associates, LLC • cfd Investments, Inc.
Over the past few years, it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate advisory services holding seminars for pre-retirees and retirees. Conducting these seminars is important because they can lead to meetings where we give prospects a “second opinion” on their planning and investment strategies and introduce core concepts of our practice such as active investment management.
About a year ago, we shifted our seminar strategy to lead with Social Security filing strategies. This has been very successful in generating attendance and having follow-up conversations.
We feel this area is overlooked by many advisors, and people are hungry for information. The complexities of Social Security can have a real impact on retirees’ income streams and survivor benefits, and people find tremendous value when a professional can help them navigate it.
Here is one example: A man and his wife came in for a meeting after a seminar and had been planning a pretty standard claiming strategy at age 66, taking full benefits at about $50,000 a year. We were able to show them a filing strategy that would result in a $20,000 annual increase in income when both were age 70, all of this within government guidelines.
This is not rocket science once you fully understand the statutes and the many options available. But the key points are how few clients and prospects understand it, how undermarketed the knowledge is, and how powerful a draw it can be for entering into important conversations with prospects.
Disclosure: Advisory services are provided through Creative Financial Designs, Inc., a registered investment advisor, and securities are offered through cfd Investments, Inc., a registered broker-dealer, member FINRA & SIPC. Richard D’Ambola & Associates, LLC, is independently owned and is not affiliated with cfd Investments, Inc.
Photography by Jennifer Pottheiser
