In my last post, I spoke about the importance of QUALITY.  All Social Security tools are not the same.  You need to understand the recommendations you are given on how to claim, but you need to make sure the advice is actually good.   How do you know if the advice is good?

We have studied this area extensively.  We know the details matter.

Previously, I have written and been quoted about deficiencies in the AARP Social Security calculator.  Be careful, you can receive bad results since it does not solve for or give you a strategy for the most benefits you receive over your lifetime.

My point in this post is different.  Be careful, also, about the depth of the logic in tools you use.  There are 2 new tools that say they “optimize” when they only use 7 default strategies.  People, there are way more than 7 strategies to consider.  If you do not comprehensively evaluate your situation, you may leave a lot of money on the table.

Here is an example, of the leading financial planning software financial advisors use.  They just released functionality to “optimize” social security looking at only 6 strategies.  Enclosed is a comparison where the software uses their optimized recommendation compared to our recommendation.  This leading tool, tells you that you are going to have a “rainy day” (i.e., in the red zone) and can’t afford your retirement goals.  Using the same couple and uploading the results from our software with more detailed logic, we got them more money and showed them that they could afford their retirement goals (i.e., our results got them into the green zone).

The take-away is that quality matters.  Make sure you run your numbers and create a strategy on how to claim benefits. But, make sure the answer is accurate and truly maximizes your benefits.