Special guest blog by Ted Rosedale of RSSA
Social Security is one of the most important — and often most misunderstood — pillars of retirement planning. To help unpack its growing role within the broader AgeTech ecosystem, we've turned to Ted Rosedale, COO of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts (NARSSA) or, as it's abbreviated in the AgeTech Collaborative™ ecosystem, RSSA. Through its RSSA® program, NARSSA equips professionals and organizations with specialized Social Security education, tools and training designed to help Americans make more informed claiming decisions.
We recently spoke with Rosedale about how registered social security analysts help older adults navigate Social Security. In this guest blog post, Rosedale dives deeper into why Social Security deserves a more central place in conversations about healthy aging, financial wellness, caregiving and retirement readiness — and what opportunities that creates for the AgeTech community.
Social Security keeps showing up everywhere.
Not just in retirement planning conversations, but in discussions around healthcare, caregiving, elections, financial wellness, Medicare and even housing.
Recently, while reading through the latest edition of the AARP Bulletin, I was struck by how often Social Security appeared throughout the publication. What stood out wasn’t simply how often it was mentioned, but how many different conversations it was connected to.
That reinforced something I’ve come to believe very strongly: Social Security is not a side conversation within the aging ecosystem. In many ways, it already sits near the center of it.
Across the AgeTech landscape, organizations are working with a shared goal: helping people age with greater confidence, stability and quality of life. But for something that impacts nearly every American family, Social Security is still often treated as a separate conversation rather than an integrated part of healthy aging and holistic retirement planning.
Social Security influences many of the biggest decisions people make as they age — when to retire, how confidently they can plan for the future and how retirement income ultimately shapes overall quality of life. And frankly, I don’t think most people feel particularly confident navigating the Social Security system. That might be an understatement….
According to research from Allianz Life, 55% of Americans say they do not know much about Social Security or how it will fit into their retirement plan, while nearly half worry about maximizing their benefits. A separate AARP survey found that only 36% of Americans feel confident about the future of Social Security.
That uncertainty creates anxiety, confusion — and often inaction.
At the same time, many people naturally think of the Social Security Administration as the place to turn for support. But the SSA is a government agency; it is not designed to provide personalized claiming advice.
As a result, many people are left trying to navigate perhaps the most critical financial decision of their lives without a clear strategy or trusted resource to help them understand how Social Security connects to the bigger picture of retirement and long-term financial wellness.
That creates a major opportunity for the broader AgeTech ecosystem!
Clearly, this is where organizations like mine, NARSSA, and our RSSA® community can help support this growing need. But more importantly for this ecosystem, we’ve consistently noticed how often Social Security is driving much broader conversations.
What begins as a question about Social Security often expands into conversations around retirement readiness, healthcare planning, Medicare, taxes and long-term financial security.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to separate financial security from broader aging outcomes. Social Security decisions influence everything from healthcare access to caregiving dynamics and long-term independence. And for many households, Social Security remains the single largest guaranteed source of retirement income they will ever receive.
What’s also interesting is that concern around Social Security extends across virtually all income and wealth levels.
Whether someone depends heavily on their monthly benefit or has accumulated substantial retirement assets, people care deeply about Social Security because they’ve spent decades paying into the system. Many are also uncertain about the future of Social Security itself. But regardless of income level, people want to understand the rules, make informed decisions and feel confident they are receiving the benefits they’ve earned and are entitled to.
And for many, these conversations begin surprisingly early.
Organizations like AARP often begin engaging Americans around age 50 — right around the time many people start thinking more seriously about retirement and the next phase of life. As the AgeTech ecosystem continues to evolve, there is an opportunity not only to provide better Social Security tools and support, but to elevate Social Security literacy itself as a foundational component of holistic retirement planning.
It can mean organizations developing internal RSSA Social Security specialists or integrating solutions to better support these conversations. It can mean utilizing software that helps consumers understand their claiming options alongside broader retirement planning considerations. It can also mean access to educational tools, live support, call centers or ongoing professional development focused on Social Security literacy. And ultimately, it means treating Social Security not simply as a government benefit, but as an important component of holistic retirement and aging support.
When people feel like someone is helping them better understand Social Security, it builds trust. And that trust matters. In many ways, Social Security can act as a connective layer across the broader aging ecosystem.
This is part of why many organizations are working closely with NARSSA and tapping into RSSA® — not simply as an educational resource, but as a way to build internal specialization, integrate planning support into existing client experiences and provide access to more structured Social Security guidance and technology-driven tools.
As information becomes increasingly accessible and certain services become more commoditized, organizations and advisors are searching for new ways to differentiate themselves and provide meaningful value.
And specialization matters in that environment. AI may improve access to information, but human guidance with specialized expertise will remain essential.
As the AgeTech ecosystem continues to mature, Social Security belongs much closer to the center of the conversation. Not simply as a retirement benefit, but as part of the infrastructure that shapes how people live, retire, access care and age with dignity.
And at the end of the day, organizations across the aging ecosystem should be asking an important question: Where are our clients, members, patients or users going for trusted Social Security support?
#ExpertInsights