"I can think of no more effective agent in advancing our freedom to live as we choose than the insurance sales person. This person knows the economic and human pulse of the country as few people may, for they walk all streets of American life and they sit down and talk with the youth and the mature and the aged."They know their wants. They help them to help themselves in time of need. They build, for they help others to build. They insure the future. They are respected and they are friends." — John F. Kennedy
Jules Politics is not a spectator sport. There are winners and victims in every piece of legislation. You may not be interested in government but I assure you, government is keenly interested in you, and if we are not at the table, we will be on the menu....
Health care reform, financial services reform, and tax reform are NAIFA’s top priorities. As you know, the 111th Congress proved to be one of the most challenging times in our organization’s history — as we took on both health care reform and financial services reform....
The 112th Congress is going to be just as challenging as the aftermath of implementing the various aspects of those bills continues — which by the way is about 5,000 combined pages of legislation. Beyond that, we will finally come head-to-head with the third part of the Perfect Storm we have been warning you about — tax reform.
I’m sure many of you have heard the President say over and over again that American jobs are his top priority — BUT those can’t just be the government jobs created through these massive bills. Today is your opportunity to talk about your job. Not as a NAIFA leader, but as an agent. It is that job that plays a critical role in helping average Americans manage life’s risks through the purchase of risk-transfer products as well as the products that provide financial security to businesses and their employees.
...This is a noble mission. Our special interests are the 75 million American families that have chosen to avail themselves of the miracle of our products and place their financial destiny in their own hands so they won't need to rely on government handouts or entitlements
So as you meet with your representatives in Congress, talk about your job — your clients, how many people you employ — and tell your story. Your task is to explain that you serve Main Street and not Wall Street. This message about who we serve is essential to the story we tell. We learned from a recent NAIFA/LIMRA survey that 58% of NAIFA members work with clients who have less than $100,000 in household income. Only 11% of NAIFA members work with clients with household incomes greater than $250,000 year....
You are here as constituent lobbyists who serve the families and businesses who need us most — the average middle-income American. You each represent hundreds, even thousands of families and businesses in your community. Remind our leaders of the vital role you play in the lives of those you serve.
As you listen to our professional lobbying team brief you on the issues to take to the Hill today, I want you to think about how these issues will impact your clients and your business.
- If they tax the inside build-up of life insurance cash values, how will that impact your clients?
- If the Medical Loss Ratio calculation continues to include agent compensation, how will that impact your ability to continue to provide services to your clients?
- If all registered reps are expected to adhere to a legal fiduciary standard of care, how will that impact your ability to serve your clients?
That is the story you must tell today....
It does not matter if your members of Congress are Democrats or Republicans. Well intentioned but ill-conceived public policy proposals are launched from both sides of the aisle. Often our role is to explain to them the unintended yet harmful consequences of those proposals....
Ladies and gentlemen, friends, at the moment you passed that licensing exam, you conceived a professional birthright and responsibility to engage others in conversations about their financial destiny. Conversations about difficult subjects. We believe that those conversations should occur in a context that does not assume you are a self-interested crook requiring unreasonable standards of disclosure. We believe you should be fairly compensated for those products and services....
I offer you the best wishes and thanks from your NAIFA Board. We appreciate your deep commitment to this good fight. We are in this together. We are the stewards of our profession and we will not abdicate our leadership position nor its attendant responsibilities.
Click here for a .pdf of Jules' complete remarks.