“Situational Social Security”–The Motivation Behind NSSA’s Program
Marc Kiner and Jim Blair, founders of Cincinnati’s Premier Social Security Consulting, several years ago created the country’s only accredited Social Security education program. Since then, their program has trained and certified thousands of professionals to advise beneficiaries on strategies for claiming their Social Security benefits. The official name for the the program is “National Social Security Advisor (NSSA)” and it’s designed to counsel individuals and families on the best ways to file for their benefits. Financial media outlet Benzinga, in a post today on their website, takes a look at the program developed by Kiner and Blair, including a list of the top five most frequently-asked questions handed by NSSA-trained counselors.
In defining their market niche, Kiner uses the term “situational Social Security” to describe the reasoning behind their certification. Because of the variety of individual circumstances facing the 10,000 or so folks aging into Social Security eligibility every day, both Kiner and Blair know there’s no “one size fits all” approach to filing for benefits. They’ve created a foundation via the NSSA program for professional counselors to analyze individual situations and provide direction to folks facing the extraordinarily complex world of Social Security, where missteps can cost beneficiaries dearly in the long-run.
The AMAC Foundation is no stranger to the NSSA program, with four certified Advisors presently available to respond to inquiries from the general public. These services are provided free of charge, with a level of demand that has been growing steadily since the program was launched two and a half years ago. “We’re now handling an average of 400 to 500 requests each month,” reports Sharon Kleczka, one of the Foundation’s senior-most Advisors, “And they cover an incredible range of detailed questions about Social Security.” Some of the inquiries are so fascinating that about a year and a half ago, the Foundation launched a program titled “Ask Rusty”–each week a question handled by the staff is documented and published, along with the researched answer, to over 7,000 media outlets across the country. Lead analyst on the “Ask Rusty” effort, Russ Gloor, explains the column this way. “Ask Rusty gives us a way to share our expertise with readers nationwide, many of whom may have similar questions on their mind. It also helps open the door for the general public to contact us with their individual questions, thus broadening our service to America’s seniors.” Gloor also notes that each weekly “Ask Rusty” issue is also posted on the Social Security Report website, with a running history of all issues available on the site’s “Q&A” page.
Learn more about the AMAC Foundation and its services here, and click on the site’s “Services” page for details on the Social Security Advisory Service.
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