Join NAIFA on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Eastern for Wealth Transfer Planning: Protecting Your Legacy Beyond the Estate Plan, sponsored by the American Cancer Society National Professional Advisor Network. The webinar will explore why preserving wealth across generations requires more than simply having an estate plan in place.

Join NAIFA on Thursday, September 10, 2026, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Eastern for Working with Nonequity Split Dollar, sponsored by Principal. This webinar will explore how non equity split dollar arrangements can provide an alternative way to fund life insurance held in an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT), particularly when clients want to minimize the gift tax impact of premium funding.

Spend enough time in industry forums or reading financial commentary, and you'll encounter a familiar claim: indexed universal life (IUL) policies have excessively high surrender rates. Critics argue these figures prove clients are walking away due to over‑illustration and buyer's remorse.

Once again this September, the National Association of Insurance Advisors (NAIFA), Life Happens, and the entire insurance and financial service community recognize and celebrate Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM).

Community Conversations, powered by NAIFA, will bring financial empowerment to communities through partnerships with members of Congress and NAIFA’s national network of insurance and financial professionals. These local events will give constituents access to trusted information and practical guidance to help them better understand the financial decisions that affect their families and their financial security.

Executive benefit strategies are becoming an increasingly important part of estate, business, and succession planning. During the recent webinar, “Executive Benefit Strategies Every Estate Planner Must Know,” Kathleen Bilderback, JD, LLM, AEP, explained how these plans work, why they matter, and what financial professionals and estate planners should understand when helping clients navigate them.

Long-term care planning is no longer just about future costs. As NAIFA members heard during the recent webinar, “2026 Long-Term Care Market Outlook,” the market is being shaped by rising demand, caregiver shortages, family burnout, new technology, and advances in brain health and early detection.

Robert M. Nelson, CLU, LUTCF, FSS, of Omaha, Nebraska, has been selected as the 2026 John Newton Russell Memorial Award recipient. The award is the highest honor accorded by the insurance industry to a living individual who has rendered outstanding services to the institution of life insurance and will be presented to Nelson at NAIFA’s Belong Awards Celebration on November 9 in Las Vegas.

For Jerry L. Spivey, CLU, CFP, RICP, a career in financial services began with a chance encounter and a question that changed the course of his life.

A recruiter with New York Life had approached one of Jerry’s high school friends about a career opportunity. His friend politely declined, but the recruiter followed up with a simple question: “Well, do you know anyone else who might be interested?” That person turned out to be Jerry.

NAIFA was sad to learn of the passing on August 7 of NAIFA Past President Rice E. Brown III, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, of Canyon City, Colorado. Brown was a NAIFA member for 63 years and served as national President of the association (then known as NALU) for the 1982-1983 association year. Before and after his term in national office, he held multiple NAIFA leadership roles, including serving as the President of four separate local associations. He also was President of NAIFA-Kansas and Treasurer of NAIFA-Colorado.