In response to a recent question from Financial Advisor magazine about the long-term solvency of Social Security, 35 percent of advisors said they think benefits will be means-tested for the wealthy. It's certainly a plausible idea. But how might it happen, and what can you do to prepare clients for it?

Let's start with two facts. First, any proposed changes to Social Security will be difficult and controversial. With so many boomers now getting benefits, the engaged, entitled audience is huge. Second, there is no simple way for the U.S. government to measure assets owned by households or individuals. Even if it could, there are too many "asset titling strategies" for such a measure to be fair.

However, the government is already means-testing Medicare Part B and D premiums based on reported income – although it prefers the term "income-relating."

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See also: 9 simple ways to help clients make Medicare decisions

The first adoption of income-relating, for Part B, had four years of delayed implementation, from legislation in 2003 to higher premiums in 2007. This helped to soften the impact of higher costs. Medicare premium tiers were set so that relatively few retired people currently are income-related – just 5 percent for Part B and 4 percent for Part D. Both premiums are based on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), which includes tax-exempt interest, with a two-year look-back.

If you think Social Security benefits may be means-tested in the future, it's a good bet changes will follow the income-relating template. For the government, one advantage of income-relating is that it can be dialed-up in increments over time. Under proposed changes, the percentage of Part B participants who are income-related could rise to 30.1 percent by 2040.  

What can you do now to prepare clients for more income-relating? First, learn how it works by browsing an in-depth research study on the topic, including income-relating proposals, from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Then, emphasize income flexibility in retirement planning.

Try to avoid inflexible flows of retirement income such as taxable pensions, annuity payouts and variable annuity GMIBs.

Manage retirement plan assets to avoid heavy required minimum distributions. Be careful with municipal bonds because interest isn't always tax-free for retired clients subject to income-relating.

Also, all affluent retired clients should have a stash of assets they can liquidate, or life insurance cash value they can draw upon, whenever CPAs estimate this will meet current income needs with the least income-relating impact.

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