Agenda

The RSSA online course is comprised of five modules designed to educate and train accounting and financial professionals on the Social Security program. It includes how to analyze a client’s claiming options to provide them with their maximized benefits by claiming at the optimal time for their personal circumstances. The RSSA course is approved for CE by the CFP Board for Certified Financial Planners, by NASBA for the CPA profession, and by the Internal Revenue Service for Enrolled Agents and other tax return preparers.

Module I: Social Security Basics

• Chapter 1: Getting Started with Social Security
• Chapter 2: Retirement & Family Benefits
• Chapter 3: The Election Claiming Decision
• Chapter 4: Social Security Optimization

This first module will provide you with detailed basic Social Security information that pertains to all retirees, including a history of the Social Security program, how funding works and how benefits are calculated, descriptions of benefits available for married, single, divorced and widowed retirees, and critical information to consider when evaluating the election claiming decision.

Key Learning Points:

• Identify the effect of life expectancy on lifetime Social Security income amounts and survivor benefits using a given couples' case example
• The steps used to calculate a retiree's PIA
• Identify the current year earnings test income limits and the amount of Social Security benefits to be withheld given a retiree's age and earnings
• How quarters of coverage are calculated and the number required to qualify for Social Security benefits
• Recognize the rules and requirements for retirees to collect spousal and survivor benefits
• Specify the factors that determine eligibility for domestic partners to collect Social Security under the spousal rules

Case examples will be used to illustrate the most commonly used rules and strategies needed to optimize Social Security benefits through the comparison of best versus worst claiming decisions.

Module II: Social Security Advanced Topics

• Chapter 1: Claiming Strategies
• Chapter 2: Pensions & Social Security
• Chapter 3: Taxation of Social Security Benefits
• Chapter 4: Disability
• Chapter 5: The Future of Social Security

Module II covers family maximum benefits, factors that make the benefit claiming decision so important. It also focuses on the Federal income taxation of Social Security benefits – including the method of determining if and how much of a retiree's Social Security income will be taxed, and case studies illustrating the need for education and retirement planning to include and manage this taxation.

This Module also covers Social Security disability, including the general rules, eligibility criteria, application and determination details, and family disability benefits. Like Social Security retirement benefits, disability rules are highly personal for each case and to be eligible a worker must meet both work and medical requirements.

Key Learning Points:

• Which family members are eligible to collect Social Security benefits based on a worker's earnings given the family's situation
• How to calculate the amount individual family members may collect in Social Security benefits
• The combined income thresholds for single and married taxpayers - and the portion of their Social Security income than may be subject to taxation
• The two eligibility requirements for Social Security disability insurance
• The process used to determine a worker's eligibility to receive disability benefits
• Which family members are eligible to collect Social Security disability auxiliary benefits based on a disabled worker's earnings when given the family's information

Module III: Bridging To Retirement Planning

• Chapter 1: The Big Picture
• Chapter 2: Taxation of Retirement Income
• Chapter 3: Social Security & Retirement Case Studies
• Chapter 4: Medicare

The elements of retirement planning are described, including gathering, reviewing and assessing all retirement financial information, income, assets and expenses. A discussion of lifestyle, goals, expectations, needs versus wants and other retirement topics is critical to understanding retirees' complete retirement financial picture.

Key Learning Points:

• Differentiate between the funds in a retirement planning "stool" versus a retirement planning "pyramid"
• How consideration and inclusion of Social Security taxation and income planning in a comprehensive retirement plan can increase the longevity of portfolios
• The client information needed to evaluate Social Security and retirement financial information to optimize net after-tax income for retirees
• How the timing of claiming Social Security benefits and the sequence of retirement account and other asset withdrawals can impact retirement finances
• The impact that claiming Social Security at certain ages can have on total taxable income and taxation of benefits
• The eligibility criteria for Medicare Part A
• The work requirement to qualify for premium-free Medicare Part A
• The various Medicare supplemental insurance (Medigap) plans

Module IV: Marketing Social Security Income Planning Services

• Chapter 1: Social Security Services
• Chapter 2: Becoming an Expert
• Chapter 3: Marketing Your Services
• Chapter 4: Getting Started

This Module includes a discussion of marketing service-based businesses versus those selling products.

Key Learning Points:

• Identify factors contributing to the need for Social Security income planning advice
• The options available to practice and highlight your knowledge about Social Security - and your skills working with retirees to analyze their optimal claiming age(s)
• The characteristics of a "trusted advisor" who offers expert advice on a topic
• The attributes of social networking that make it such a powerful marketing tool
• Social Security niches available for working with groups of retirees

Module V: Social Security Software Case Studies

• Chapter 1: Mark Hamill - Single with a Pension
• Chapter 2: Robert & Sarah Marsh - Married with Disabled Adult Son Greg
• Chapter 3: Julie Woods - Divorced
• Chapter 4: Thomas & Anne Miller - Self-Employed

This last Module takes the knowledge you learned in the first four modules and applies it to analyzing real-world Social Security client case studies.

Key Learning Points:

• The most important issues that couples must consider when deciding when to begin collecting Social Security
• The reasons why estimating maximum life expectancy are important when deciding which age to start claiming Social Security benefits
• The difference in lifetime benefit amounts between the maximized and alternative filing ages for a married couple
• The Social Security rule(s) that determine if an adult disabled child is eligible for Social Security benefits
• The requirement(s) that divorced retirees must meet to be eligible to collect an ex-spousal benefit
• The conditions that a retiree must meet to be eligible to use the "restricted application" claiming strategy
• The difference in lifetime benefit amounts between the maximized and the default alternative filing age for a divorced
• Why certain Social Security retiree cases will be subject to the Family Maximum Benefit rules
• The Social Security claiming factors that a self-employed owner and sole shareholder of a corporation must consider when determining whether to collect "reasonable compensation" in the form of salary or a company distribution

Don't wait! Order today to enhance your career with a Registered Social Security Analyst Certification!