‘Just really shocking’: One of America’s top Social Security advisors is unsettled by how many people are withdrawing early

Martha Shedden has spent 15 years trying to talk Americans out of panicking.

Lately, she says, it’s a losing battle.

She cofounded the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts (NARSSA), the organization that trains and certifies financial professionals as registered Social Security analysts, or RSSAs.

In an interview with Fortune , she described a pattern she’s watching play out across the country: Retirees and near retirees, spooked by headlines about the program’s finances, are claiming benefits at 62—the earliest possible age—even when waiting would leave them better off.

“They hear their benefits might be cut 22%, and they’re thinking, ‘I need my money now,’” Shedden said.

“That was just really shocking.

I mean, I knew people were doing that, but that [number] was very, very surprising.” The behavior shows up starkly in a survey NARSSA conducted of 189 RSSAs in August, which asked advisors what they’re hearing directly from clients.

Nearly three-quarters—73.5%—said their clients want to claim early specifically because they fear future benefit cuts.

Almost 59% said clients simply doubt Congress will act to fix the program’s finances.

And when advisors were asked to describe the dominant mindset among clients weighing when to claim, 62.4% said people feel “overwhelmed by conflicting advice.” The 22% problem Social Security’s retirement trust fund is on track to run dry in the fourth quarter of 2032—one quarter sooner than last year’s estimate—according to the program’s 2026 trustees report.

After that point, the law requires an automatic, across-the-board benefit cut because the trust fund can no longer make up the gap between what workers pay in and what retirees are owed.

Absent congressional action, the cut would be roughly 22%.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has translated that into household terms: A typical dual-income couple retiring right after insolvency would lose an estimated $16,900 a year in benefits.

A single-earner couple would lose about $12,700 annually, and higher-income couples could see cuts as steep as $22,300 a year.