Advisor 2020, the NAIFA-sponsored research project, identifies “the new retirement culture” as a growing opportunity for advisors over the second half this decade. Americans are woefully unprepared for retirement and many are pessimistic about their prospects for retiring comfortably. They are desperate for advice and services, and NAIFA members are ideally positioned to help.

Fortunately, NAIFA is working overtime to give you tools to be successful in the retirement space and to ensure you are in the best possible position to provide the products and services the working public and retirees need.

A new consumer-focused multimedia advertising campaign is touting NAIFA members as the ideal resource for people who need help preparing for retirement. I look forward to telling you more about the campaign in my next blog post. This week, I want to highlight the ways NAIFA is helping retirement advisors succeed.

Providing Educational Opportunities

The NAIFA Webinar Series presents regular educational opportunities on retirement-related topics to jump start members’ career success. Programs in the series, which are archived on the Web for NAIFA members, include: Four Simple Steps to Retiring Happily Ever After, Using Home Equity in Retirement, Steer Clients Clear of These Common Retirement Planning Mistakes, Retirement Plans 101, Advanced Strategies to Increase Social Security Income, and Budget Bill Changes to Social Security. If you have never participated in a NAIFA webinar, I encourage you to take advantage of this valuable professional development resource.

Further educational opportunities are available at sessions during NAIFA’s annual Career Conference. On-site, these workshops provide dynamic, interactive learning opportunities for financial professionals. Recordings are available to members on the NAIFA website.

Retirement planning is a major component of the curriculum for NAIFA’s Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow (LUTCF) designation. The new LUTCF combines online and classroom learning with field training to equip you with the knowledge and skills to advise on real-life issues. The second of three nine-week courses provides insights and detailed information on life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, long-term care insurance and other products relevant to clients preparing for retirement. The final section, “Risk Management Applications,” addresses retirement and estate planning, special family situations, and presenting basic plans to individuals and business owners.

I would also encourage NAIFA members to take advantage of the excellent retirement-related educational and promotional materials provided by our partner organization Life Happens.

Opposing Harmful Regulation

Finally, as I’ve discussed in previous blog posts, NAIFA’s leaders, members and staff are highly engaged on the issue of the Department of Labor’s proposed fiduciary rule, which would significantly harm advisors in the retirement space and their clients. Most recently, NAIFA President Jules Gaudreau testified before a House of Representatives subcommittee, telling members of Congress about the great work NAIFA members do preparing their clients for retirement and supporting legislation that would replace the DOL’s unworkable rule. At the same time, NAIFA members from 45 states at the annual Political Involvement and Political Action Planning Meeting held 237 meetings with their representatives and senators on Capitol Hill to reinforce Gaudreau’s message.

We have also helped shape the debate by offering NAIFA’s position in numerous media outlets, including the PBS Newshour, NPR’s Morning Edition, the Wall Street Journal and InvestmentNews.

As a NAIFA member, you take pride in preparing your clients to enjoy a financially secure retirement. And NAIFA is dedicated to giving you all of the tools and support you need to be successful in this important endeavor.