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very year, some things about Social Security and Medicare change. The next year's information is usually available through the Social Security Administration (SSA) around the end of November each year, but who wants to try and sift through government reports? Your clients certainly don't want to. They'll likely ask YOU for answers to their questions. Are you prepared for that? I can help you with that. Each year, I team up with Social Security expert, Marc Kiner of the National Social Security Association (NSSA) to update my "Guide to Social Security and Medicare: Income Maximization Strategies." Share it with clients to start a conversation about guaranteed lifetime income. Here, I'll even tell you what's been updated for 2024.

There are some common questions your clients might have that can cause many retirees to fear they won't receive a benefit if the funds run out. Who can receive benefits? How are they funded? What's the average benefit? "The 2023 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds" is a 276 page document that contains answers to many of these questions...would YOU or your clients want to read that to learn what has changed? Here's what's important to share:

Today, 181 million people worked and paid Social Security taxes, and about 66 million people received monthly Social Security benefits (according to the trustees report).

In 2024, the average Social Security benefit for an individual is $1,907 per month. For couples, the average monthly benefit amount is $3,033 per month. These are numbers after the new 3.2% COLA increase for 2024 is factored in.

A lot of information can now be recalculated with a full retirement age (FRA) of 67 in mind instead of 66 as many Baby Boomers continue to age into retirement. For example, if a person's FRA is 67, but they delay taking benefits until they reach age 70, they could increase their benefit amount by a total of 24%! Share this graph from my guide to help show how much this could impact their benefits.

Showing clients strategies to help lock in larger benefits like this can help build trust. From there, they could ask you about other sources of guaranteed lifetime income - especially if they have any shortfalls in Social Security benefits.

So I hope you consider sharing my guide to simplify the conversation. The full, 34-page guide with all the updates is at the printers right now! My team is taking preorders and discounting the price! Visit the shop for single copies or stock up on bulk quantities to save big.

-Tom Hegna

* Disclaimer from my team: inventory is estimated to be available for shipment around 01JAN2024. Preorders will be shipped in the order they are received. Please be patient as we may receive 1000+ orders.