Documents are ever-present in the lives of insurance and financial professionals. From policy agreements to annuity contracts to the full slate of disclosures, written agreements and promises are important parts of what you do. 

Today, our nation celebrates one of its founding documents. Along with the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence ranks as the most revered document in the United States. On July 4th, 1776, as we all know, our American forebears used this document to proclaim their independence as a nation. The Constitution, the world’s oldest charter of government still in effect, came just over a decade later and serves as a promise to the American people of the obligations of the government and rights of the governed. 

I hope all of you who have come to Washington, D.C., for NAIFA’s Congressional Conference have taken the opportunity to see original versions of these awe-inspiring documents on display in the Rotunda of Freedom at the National Archives Building. If not, there’s always next year.

While you may not keep client agreements on display in a low-light, helium-filled case under bullet-proof glass, they represent another important type of freedom and independence. They provide American families with freedom from financial worry and small business owners with the independence to pursue the American Dream. On this day that we celebrate our nation’s independence and the freedoms we all enjoy, I am very proud to serve those of you who expand that independence to financial matters for so many Americans.

On behalf of NAIFA’s Board of Trustees and our national staff, I wish each of you a very happy Fourth of July.