Hello from sunny Arizona! It has been a turbulent year in the markets so far, which I’m sure has caused some stress for you and your clients. If this conversation comes up, make sure you transition into the positive and discuss how life insurance and annuities can offer solutions to protect against significant risk. With 2016 full steam ahead, I wanted to update you with ways that can help provide peace of mind when the market is tanking. Despite stormy economic conditions, there are significant ways to control certain aspects of your retirement, specifically, Social Security. In November 2015, the United States Congress passed and President Obama signed the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act, which had a significant impact on Social Security benefits for all Americans. Before I jump into that, check out a quick video about the history of Social Security: Ok, so what’s new in 2016? File and Suspend – This strategy was affected the most by the changes to the law. To be eligible for this strategy, you must turn age 66 and File and Suspend by April 29, 2016. If you do not file by this date, then the strategy can no longer be applied. Anyone who was able to use this strategy previously will be able to continue with their benefit and it will remain unaffected. Restricted Application – The Restricted Application Strategy has been modified as well. To be eligible to use the strategy, you must have turned age 62 by December 31, 2015. If you are 62 or older before this date, then you are grandfathered into this strategy. Once you reach your Full Retirement Age (FRA), you can then file a Restricted Application. Filing for Back Payments – This strategy is no longer eligible and cannot be used after April 29, 2016. Filing for Back Payments – This strategy is no longer eligible and cannot be used after April 29, 2016. More than ever, it’s essential to understand the benefits and the risks of delaying. Delaying your benefits to at least your Full Retirement Age is a must. I also think it is more important than ever to model different scenarios with a Social Security Calculator. A statement from Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin relayed along the following: “Today, Social Security’s insurance protection has become the foundation of retirement security for almost all American workers and families. The average retirement benefit is modest, about $1,340 a month, yet benefits are the main income for most seniors. For two in three seniors who receive Social Security, it is more than half of their total income.” You may have heard me mention once or twice that retirement is not about assets, it’s all about income! For the two-thirds of Americans, many of them simply began claiming at age 62. Take a look at this chart where I show a hypothetical example where we assume a Full Retirement Age benefit of $24,000 a year, an annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 3%, and the client living to age 95. Over the lifetime of the benefit, you can see there is a significant difference in total benefits. Now, there are many people out there that have bad health and may not live past the breakeven point, but for the majority of people, the break event point is significantly lower than life expectancy for a 65-year-old (86 for a 65 year old man, 89 for a 65 year old woman and 93 for a 65 year old couple). Not sure where to go from here? I recently updated my, Guide to Social Security: Income Maximization Strategies, with all of these changes explained in further detail. I’ve also teamed up with my friends over at Impact Technologies to provide people with a FREE demo of their Social Security Pro, a simple and thorough benefit calculator. Both of these are great resources for you and your clients. I’d strongly recommend checking out the calculator and playing around with different scenarios. If you enjoy that, they have a great system that you can purchase that takes it a step further where they dig deeper into cash flow decisions. On tap next month, is a full month for me! I’ll be doing an entire week in Kansas talking to clients twice a day and I’ll also be returning to Fargo, ND where I was a proud alum of North Dakota State University. Go Bison! If you aren’t already, make sure to follow me on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. If you accidentally miss any of the deadlines for the Social Security strategies, don’t worry, I’ll be posting reminders throughout the month to keep you on track. See you out on the road!