Social Security & Disability Benefits Expert
Gerald Brooks is a CFP and Registered Social Security Analyst (RSSA) with 15 years helping Americans navigate Social Security retirement, disability (SSDI), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims. He spent seven years as a benefits coordinator at the Social Security Administration in Baltimore before transitioning to private practice. Gerald has testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging on SSDI reform and consults with disability advocacy nonprofits. His guides on Social Security optimization and disability appeals have been cited by AARP and Kaiser Family Foundation.
Seven years processing claims inside the SSA gave Gerald a firsthand view of why so many disability applications get denied on the first pass — usually incomplete medical documentation or a mismatch between the claimed impairment and the SSA's own listing of impairments. That experience now shapes how he explains the appeals process and what evidence actually moves a case forward.
His Senate testimony centered on processing-time backlogs and their effect on claimants with terminal or rapidly progressing conditions, which is part of why he pushes readers toward compassionate-allowance and dire-need provisions they often don't know exist. Gerald also works closely with claiming-age optimization, since the decision to file at 62 versus full retirement age or 70 is frequently the single largest lifetime dollar decision a retiree makes.
View LinkedIn ProfileB.S. Public Policy, University of Maryland; CFP Certificant; RSSA Designation (National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts)