Mary Beth Franklin: To Fix Social Security, 'Everybody Is Going to Have to Be Unhappy'

<p>Our guest this week is Social Security and retirement planning expert Mary Beth Franklin. Mary Beth is president of RetirePro and a contributing editor to <em>InvestmentNews</em>. She's a frequent public speaker and she also has her own podcast, "Retirement Repair Shop." In addition to her deep knowledge about retirement planning, Mary Beth is a virtual encyclopedia on the ins and outs of Social Security, especially beneficial claiming strategies. Her most recent book is <em>Maximizing Social Security Retirement Benefits: Everything You Need to Know to Get the Most Out of Complicated New Claiming Rules. </em>Prior to joining <em>InvestmentNews</em>, Mary Beth was tax editor at <em>Kiplinger’s Personal Finance</em> and a Capitol Hill reporter at United Press International. She has also earned the Certified Financial Planner designation.</p></p><p><p><strong>Background</strong><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.retirement-resource-center.com/mary-beth-franklin-cfp-expert-social-security-claiming-strategies/" target="_blank">Mary Beth Franklin bio</a>  </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/author/mbfranklin/posts" target="_blank">Mary Beth Franklin InvestmentNews article archive</a>  </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/mbfretirepro?lang=en" target="_blank">Mary Beth Franklin on Twitter</a> <br /></p><p><a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/podcasts/retirement_repair_shop_mbf" target="_blank">Mary Beth Franklin Retirement Repair Shop podcast</a> </p></p><p><p><strong>Pandemic Impact on Retirement, Social Security Planning</strong><br /></p><p>“<a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/rethinking-retirement-amid-covid-19-crisis-192603" target="_blank">Rethinking Retirement Amid the COVID-19 Crisis</a>,” by Mary Beth Franklin, <em>InvestmentNews</em>, May 10, 2020.  </p></p><p><p>“<a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/americans-remain-confident-about-their-retirement-prospects-192256" target="_blank">Americans Remain Confident about Their Retirement Prospects</a>,” by Mary Beth Fr