Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Roy Snarr, Founder of Roy Snarr Retirement Solutions Discussing Social Security Maximization

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

Roy Snarr specializes in asset protection, Long Term Care and retirement planning and is the host of Safe Money and Income Radio, broadcasting throughout central Texas. He is sought after nationally and helps people across the country with life insurance, long term care and guaranteed retirement income planning. Roy is a CFF (Certified Financial Fiduciary) a LACP (Life and Annuity Certified Professional) and a NSSA (National Social Security Advisor)destinations and is a proud member of MDRT: top 1% of licensed financial professionals in the United States. He is easy going, family oriented and loves meeting new people.Learn more: http://www.roysnarr.com/DISCLAIMER: I do not work for any type of government officeInfluential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-roy-snarr-founder-of-roy-snarr-retirement-solutions-discussing-social-security-maximization

Welcome to influential entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of influential entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have with us Roy Snar, who's the founder of Roy Snar Retirement Solutions, and we'll be talking about Social Security Maximization. Roy, welcome to the program. Thank you, Mike. I'm excited to help share some knowledge on the exhilarating topic of Social Security.

You know, I read news and headlines, and you see all the headlines out there, and a lot of times it's like hype or misinformation, but I do know that there have been some changes with Social Security. So that is definitely something that people need to stay up on. Before we dive into that, give us a little bit of your background and story, and how did you get into? the financial services industry? Yeah, when I was about 14 years old, my mother became disabled. Somebody ran a stop sign, hit her, bam, out of nowhere, side swiped. That accelerated her degenerative disc disease. From that one single accident, she lost the car, she lost her job, we lost our house,

a divorce came about it by a stepfather, and I had to move from the school I grew up into a brand new school four hours away. All of these things happen because of one accident. And it happened to be a time in 2001 right when the dot-com bubble burst. So it was like this perfect storm of disaster. And it always stuck with me. Now, given at 14, I had no idea about life or money or reality, but that event always stuck with me.

And I remember when things got really, really tight, we still had one check coming through the door. And it was a social security disability income check. And I just remember getting that check and we were able to get some food with it. It was some crazy times. And it just always stuck with me. So then when I got older and started going to school, I started realizing, hey, I want to study insurance, financial services. What is this social security thing?

How does it work? And I just became an absolute social security nerd. I ended up writing a bestselling book on it. We teach classes all over the country on it to help people get the most out of their benefits. So that's where my passion started in this industry from that one accident. And then it led me to Social Security, which led me to financial planning and other topics. And so that's what spurred my journey. I mean, when I was younger, I never thought in a million years I'd grow up and be an asset protection specialist.

Yeah, yeah. But it all centers around family. it was seared into your consciousness of this event that had some, you know, silver lining like, hey, this was the one thing that kind of kept us going. That's awesome. And then the thought crosses your mind. How can I learn more to help more people do that? So we probably can do a nine hour seminar over a weekend on some security and still be just scratching the surface. So we'll just talk conceptually. But what do you find when you're talking to people for the first time that some of the biggest mistakes? are that they make or assumptions when they're thinking about Social Security. A lot of the mistakes come in timing of the filing because that's probably the biggest question

that everyone has is when should I take my benefit? And if you don't understand the rules, it could be a lifetime reduction in penalties that could cost literally hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of time for a couple. And so the most important thing that people need to understand is if you want to take your benefit at any point in time, whether it be early at your full retirement age or delayed, that you actually see the numbers. And the challenges is that Social Security, they will provide you with your own set of numbers and your spouse, but they won't put them together to show different options. You want to see what the different options are so that way you feel the most confident

in your filing decision because, to your point earlier, there's a lot of false marketing and misinformation out there. Ultimately, filing for your benefit, there's never a right or wrong answer because it depends on how long you're going to live. If you knew you're going to live to 100, wait till 70. If you knew that you're going to pass away at 70, take it as soon as possible, right? And so we want to look at all of these features and factors. And I think another big oopsie daisies that people make is they'll file their benefit too early while still working, and they don't understand the rules around that. And it makes me think this, because I think I've heard this or maybe this is misinformation. People can file and then what if a few months later or a

year later they're like, ah, no, I think I'm going to work a little bit. I'm going to unfile or I'm going to, it's not like a light switch where you can turn it on and off. Right. So like you better know because it's almost like one and done irrevocable. Almost, yes. You can in the first time filing, turn it on and then you have up to one year to change your mind. But if you change your mind and flip that light switch back down, you have to pay. back social security all of the money that they already provided to you. But if you do that within the first 12 months of your first time filing, they'll wipe their hands and say it's all good. Don't worry about it. The other step to that is if you are already at your full retirement age or beyond, you could stop

your benefit. But usually when you do that, most people are in a position to do so. And it will affect any other ancillary benefits like spousal benefits, for example, or child. care benefits if that's applicable. So most people don't stop and file and then start again. But to your point, you want to be confident in making that decision. Because if once you go to turn it on, you're pretty much in it to win it, especially after that 12 month mark. Yeah.

And that makes me also think of something else. Like if my cell phone is locked up, what's the first thing we do? I jump at the computer and I Google my Galaxy S-25 is locked. up what do I do? I find the solution and boom. With Social Security and with many things, you might not want to go to Google and go, what's the best age I should? And then look at one article and go, here we go, because there's so many moving pieces. And I think that that's where talking to a professional like yourself that can give some options is a good idea. Because just listening to your friend that claimed or set up their security at whatever age might not be

the best choice for you. One hundred percent correct. The other thing, too about Googling answers is that it can be a mixed bag. And a lot of times there's opinion weighted in those answers. And those opinions may not align with the client's goals. Additionally, even chat GPT or these AI chat boxes, I had played around and tested them. I've corrected them. They've been wrong on certain social security topics because it's a very complex system. In theory, it's relatively simple, right? You pay this tax. You turn around and go to retire. they pay it back to you and most likely tax you again on it the way the current structures are operating. And that's it. But there's so many different ways and nuances to it and different rules

to get the most out of it. And unfortunately, the Social Security Administration, they don't do any type of outreach to tell people how to maximize their benefits. They do have it in online. But my goodness, dude, who is going to read through the literally hundreds of thousands of pages online? And even myself as an expert of Social Security, when I peruse through their website, I get confused. I have to read it a few times because just the way they phrase it. It's almost like taking a test in high school or college. They phrase these questions in such a way that you really have to dissect how they're questioning in order to get the answer. And isn't it also true that at least talking to a security person in the office or the phone or on their website, that's better than Google. But isn't it similar to comparing a tax preparer to a high-end tax strategist where the tax preparer fills in the blanks with the information you give it and says next. The tax strategist goes, well, what if and how about and what if we did this to maximize? So talking to Social Security Administration will answer your questions,

but maybe they don't look at all the angles to get you the best to maximize the benefits. That is correct. And it's because legally they cannot give you any advice. So if you are able to frame your question in such a way to get the answer, you might be able to get what you need. The challenge is if you called Social Security and said, when should I take my benefit, they're like, we can't tell you that. We can tell you your numbers. And unfortunately, Social Security is going through a lot of changes where a lot of the folks that have been there for a long period of time, they simply are retiring.

And there's a new wave of people working there. They're overwork. They're overwhelmed. most of them are good people and easy to talk to, but you can still, unfortunately, get some misinformation directly from Social Security, and we have experienced that firsthand. So to your point, that's a very good analogy that you reference, you want to speak with someone who is certified specialists in Social Security,

but has a degree of separation where they don't work for Social Security. What you could do is always double fact-checked that person giving you advice and confirm that information. through Social Security directly on the phone or through their website through reading. But you definitely, in my opinion, that's why I became a National Social Security Advisor. I wanted to be able to help people out, give them a different perspective. And I casually joke around, Mike. I say, hey, you know, I'm a lot easier to talk to than Social Security.

You could call my cell phone or shoot me a text message, and I'll give you the best answer I possibly. Yep. That's a good point. So, Roy, when you start talking with someone new and they ask you the loaded question, When should I start taking their security? I know there's a thousand different things that go into that. But where do you start in helping them frame up that thought process? Well, number one, what we want to look at is when do you want to retire?

What's the ideal time frame? I first want to get their gut instinct, their intuition, whether or not they can make it financially. I just want to know when they would like to retire and sail the world or do whatever they want to do. And then we take that date and we look at what the benefit. will provide to them at that date. And then we have another question. We say, is this benefit going to pay for everything? And most of the times it's not able to pay for everything.

Then we do a follow-up question. What do you have to supplement the difference? So then we start looking at their assets. And then we want to take a look at, is it better to coordinate the assets by taking those first and delaying Social Security or vice versa? Let's look at the numbers and let's do the math. See, our whole approach and perspective, there is opinion. into it. There is emotional fake factors to it. But a lot of it's rooted in non-emotional,

pure math, right? The math is going to tell us if it's going to make sense or not. And that's the approach we take. So we have the emotional conversation, but we also have the factual and logical one that can back it up with true hard numbers because it is what it is what you're going to get from social security. And so how do we get the most out of it based on time? Maybe they need to wait another year or two and they don't want to, but they have to financially. Maybe they have the means to actually retire sooner than they even anticipated. So to answer your question in short, we want to first start with, when do you want to retire? That's how we kick off the conversation. And the number one thing that should always be taken into consideration of retirement planning is

Social Security. It's your guaranteed annuity. It's your guaranteed pension. Yeah, yeah. Essentially, that's exactly. I mean, that's what it is. And it's like, let's get the most out of this thing first. and let's look at your other assets. Whereas a lot of advisors don't do that because social security is boring. There's no direct revenue model in it. And they're not experts in it. I mean, it takes a lot to become an expert. And most advisors don't focus on that.

Whereas that's what we focus on first. I have people that come to me and say, hey, Roy, I have $5 million. What should I do with it? I go, are you on Social Security? The first question I ask. Well, no, but that's not what I'm looking for. I'm like, that is exactly what you're looking for. Let me show you why.

And then we do the social security conversation and people really appreciate that. Well, and I would think that I like your emotion versus fact because there could be some people that go, I was forced to retire. I have to retire next month and I don't have two nickels to rub together. Well, then you need to get your Social Security gone because you're going to starve or you can't pay your bills. And then there could be some people on the other end of the spectrum that go, yeah, I'm going to retire, but I got plenty of this and that. And I'm doing consulting.

You know, I know for me, I had a friend growing up and he retired from the nuclear industry and he retired just to do some consulting. And it's like he just, he actually made more than when he was, you know, getting his high salary. Those kind of people can wait till whenever because isn't there something like an 8% growth, guaranteed growth if you wait each year up to a certain age? Isn't that a benefit for waiting? It is. Yeah. So you get a guaranteed 8% applied to your primary insurance amount, which is what you're eligible for at your full retirement age. So if you're born in, you know, say 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67. So if you delayed till 70, you're going to get 24% more plus your cost of living adjustments than what you would have received at 67. But the 8% only applies every month. Well, it's calculated annually, but then they base it. Like if you wait for, say six months you get four percent more. But it only starts, that clock only starts ticking when you

are after your full retirement age. Yeah. And again, getting down to what you were saying is like, do you need the money? We need to figure this out because in one sense, having 24% more after three years sounds wonderful. But in those three years, you didn't get the amount that you would have gotten. You know, let's just use the number 1600 a month. You know, you might, you're not getting the $1,600 a month for three years. Well, after three years, yeah, you're going to get 24% more, but you just lost out on that money and you need to make sure that that's not going to impact your day-to-day living. So there's numbers that have to be considered.

I think that's a really great point that you're bringing up. Yeah, the other thing, too, is that a lot of people, let's take your more affluent client in that example, there are people that will take it purely out of principle. They don't need the money. They can afford to wait. they could afford never to take it, but they say, I'm going to take it now. I'm like, it's going to be reduced and you don't need the money.

Why do you want to take it? At a principle, it's my money. I want to get it now. I'm concerned about the administration's liquidity. Sure. About the government. And I've been doing this for 15 years. I will tell you, ever since COVID, a lot of the filing decisions lately have been purely out

of principle, not necessarily out of necessity. That's a really good point. They want to take it because they want to. And I say, hey, you know what? It's your benefit. It's your money. You were taxed on it your whole life and forced to pay into it. If you want it, by all means, file it.

Let's turn it on. Yeah. And if you don't turn it on and you feel that way, you're going to have that pit in your stomach. So if that's the way you feel, cool. Yeah. And then my job is like, look, go ahead and turn it on. But let me show you what you're missing out on, right?

The pros and cons of each way. And then even after that, if you still, are confident in making that decision, they go for it. I'm going to high five you because there's never a right or wrong decision to file social security. I think this is the biggest misnomer out there. And there's so much, so many false ads on Facebook and on TV like, oh, yeah, you have to do it at this stage to optimize it. No, you don't. Because nobody knows when you're going to pass away, right? Yeah. It's never a right or wrong decision to file. There are ways to enhance it based on assumptions. Yep. And you mentioned you've been doing this for 15 years and it made

me think of a number. I know that probably 30 years ago when I got into the workforce, I remember, because I worked for a bank, I remember hearing, oh, Social Security is going to go under for the last 30 years. So I know that that's one of the, you know, the things out there, the rumors, but, you know, what do you say about, you know, Social Security is going to go under compared to what we heard in like 2007 and 8, like the, oh, that company's too big to fail. the government's going to step in. Isn't it true that the government, there's no earthly way they can let Social Security fail or go under because it's a moral obligation they've taken your money for so many decades. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people will, that's the problem, right? It's like they want to get it

now and they're frustrated because they see even on Social Security's website. I mean, we're going to get new numbers. You get new numbers every October. And so there's new numbers that are going to be arising here soon. It's going to show the annual. report and there's a solvency issue. And so people are worried that it's going to go away. Now, in my opinion and a lot of the opinions of my colleagues, I don't think it's ever going to go away. They will bail it out for sure. They're not going to let the largest most quote, unquote, trusted pension system fail. Yeah. Then the real question is, what are those, what's that check going to buy you if they keep bailing itself? Yeah. Inflation. Yeah, that brings up a whole other,

you know, a ball of wax like inflation and, you know, okay, here's your money. but now gas cost $24 a gallon or whatever. Exactly. So it, you know, it's all best guess. It really is. So I show people the different evidences, the changes. There's been more changes on Social Security within the last 12 months than almost since the inception of the program. I mean, there have been so many unique changes.

I mean, they added spousal benefits way back when they've changed the formulas. They added taxes during the Reagan administration. And now as of recently, they've gotten rid of the government pension offset, windfall elimination provision, which mainly affected, say, teachers or state employees, people who didn't pay into Social Security but were actively receiving a pension called an uncovered pension. And then also this big new tax change that happened. It benefited a lot of people. But even the White House's own statement wasn't entirely, it is accurate, but it was misleading. And it's marketing because it stated no more taxes on Social Security than in small asterisk for 88% of people. Yeah, yeah, right.

The reality is they didn't change anything on the tax structure. Nothing has changed. They just added an additional deduction for those that qualify for. And they're qualifying limitations for that deduction. And it's only temporary too. And you just rattled off like seven different, you know, things, which reiterates the point we were making earlier. You can't figure it out on your own. You need to have someone sit down and run even a software analysis to go, okay, let's look at the numbers.

If you do it this way, if you do it that way, here's what this would be and factoring all this in. And you mentioned like your example about the person with $5 million and your first question is how about your Social Security. And so how does Social Security fit into the broader retirement income strategy? Like how do you then factor that conversation with that guy with money with, you know, he's got some annuities or he's got some investments? How are you, what's the broad stroke of how you're having that conversation to start that off? The broad stroke is let's try to get the most that we can out of your retirement and try to make it as tax efficient as possible. Because for those that are, say, wealthier, even those that are middle class, you know, it could be a good idea. If we go through a massive recession, maybe you turn on Social Security sooner because your assets are depleting themselves in the marketplace.

So when it comes to timing the benefit or looking at our best options, we not only look at the current health, family longevity. We also look at the current state of the economy because if the economy is booming, rocking, and rolling, maybe they can just scoop off some winnings from their investments and not touch Social Security, let it delay and grow. But if we go through real choppy waters, probably be a better idea to turn on that Social Security before draining your assets. And one of the most basic conversations I have is, okay, very straightforward common sense.

Are you pulling more than 4% of your retirement assets to supplement your retirement income and goals? If they are, if they're pulling 10, 12, I've seen 20%. I'm like, you should turn on Social Security, even though it's going to be reduced to preserve your assets to make them last. It's a balance. And that's one of the basics of coordination of assets that we have is, how much income do you need because retirement is not about assets. It's about cash flow. And so we want to see what that cash flow number is. If they're only taking a fraction of a percent of their total retirement balance and that's covering all of their bills and leisure and expenses,

yeah, they can afford to delay their social security benefit. But if they're taking 7, 8, 9, 10 percent of their cash reserves, i.e. cash in the bank or investments to survive, you need to turn on Social Security. You're going to bleed yourself, the sequence of returns. There's so much math and science behind not doing that that it makes way more sense to turn on Social Security. And anyone listening to this thinking, man, I cannot figure out all this on my own, help me, guide me, show me what's the best way they can learn a little bit more and then reach out and connect with you? Yeah, 100%. We make it very easy to help people. We're actually one of the only firms in the country that does not charge for a consultation. The way that we do it is we offer

online webinars for peer education. We offer in-person classes. We have tons of free resources out there. We have a YouTube channel that has tons of information that people can learn on. And then ultimately, if they want to take it a step further, and they want to book a time with myself or our team, our team of advisors and agents here, they're all. certified in Social Security with a professional designation. They can book a time with them just to get questions answered. It's not a sales pitch. It's not a charged consultation. A lot of people say, well, why do you do that? And I say, because no one helped my family out. And if we had some help and guidance, our lives would have been much different. Now, we're fortunate for what did happen

because it's that enabled us to help over 4,000 of our clients throughout the country over these last 15 years. So it's been very rewarding. But it's our way to give back. And naturally, we gain clients from that. We make our revenue. We get to help people by doing this type of service, which is completely contrary and different than what most firms do. But it works well for us. And a lot of it's charity work.

There's a lot of people that we help that there's nothing we can do for them. If they had the money, they would want us to work with them. But they just don't. And that's okay too. I had a gentleman just the other day, almost cry on the phone. He goes, no one would ever help me because I don't have the business. big retirement nest egg, but you help me get extra benefits by educating differences. And it's rewarding, right? And so that's why we do it. We have a passion to help people, the business and the

money, that all comes afterwards. Our first goal is like, let us share information with you that you are not going to get directly from the mainstream media, a government website, or 99.9% of all financial advisors. We're going to share something that's much different in perspective that can help benefit you dramatically. Awesome. Well, Roy, what's the best way that they can reach out to on your website? The best way, just type my name into Google. It's just Roy Snar and that's S-N-N- as a NATO-A-R-R. And I dominate the internet, probably because I have a very strange last name, but I'm very fine. The agency is Roy Snar Retirement Solutions, just kept it with my name. And on there, we have a very easy caption form. Hey, look, I want information about XYZ.

You just fill that out, click on it. One of our team members will reach out to you and try to get your questions answered. Excellent. Well, thank you so much for coming on. It's been a real pleasure chatting with you today. Yeah, thank you. You've been listening to Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders. To learn more about the resources mentioned on today's show or listen to past episodes,

visit www. www. Influential EntrepreneursRadio.com