May 23, 2013

Boom In Training For Social Security Consulting

     From a press release:
Premier Social Security Consulting, LLC of Cincinnati has experienced explosive growth since implementing its National Social Security Advisors (NSSA) training certification program nationwide in January. ...
The company provides two-day, Social Security advisor training class for CPAs, financial advisors, insurance agents, Enrolled Agents and other professional advisors so they can in turn counsel clients on the best way to access Social Security benefits in order to optimize lifetime income.
The number of Premier's NSSA presentations nationwide have increased rapidly and revenue for individual Social Security consulting, as well as NSSA training courses, is up 325 percent year to date compared to 2012.          
"Other former Social Security administrators are out there, but I believe we are the only one determined to set industry standards for consultation and education," said Premier partner Marc Kiner. ...
The NSSA course is being offered for $295 for training through May. Afterward, the course costs $995 for the two-day session. Both prices include a year of continuing support and monthly webinars with Premier on Social Security issues.
The National Underwriter Company (NUCO) will prepare and administer the NSSA exam. Certification is provided by the National Social Security Association.
     Two days of training? That's about enough time to learn how to be a positive menace to the people you're trying to advise.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

To clarify, this has nothing to do with disability applications. They advise retired beneficiaries and their dependents on when and how to claim benefits.

Anonymous said...

Premier's website says they cover SSI and disability is mentioned as well. My main concern is that any advice on genuinely "maximizing benefits" has to be state-specific or the client can be badly burned.

For example, SSI recipients often rely on other state-specific assistance programs. If Premier is teaching one course out of a can, and if it does not take such state-specific benefits into account, then the advice does not "maximize" all benefits, and would be dangerous to follow. For example, taking an action that sounds like it makes sense for tax purposes may disqualify a client from some other crucial program or benefit and leave them worse off. If the course can cover that kind of detail in two days, then I would be most impressed. If not, then I am worried.