Over the past two to three years, there is no doubt you’ve been through a tremendous amount of change. The pandemic transformed the way we lived and worked. From career security to The Great Resignation, many of us were provided with plenty of opportunities for reflection. You went from working live to virtual and saw family and friends change careers, move from their homes (even total relocations), and pick up hobbies they’ve dreamed about for years.

In an advertising campaign in the 1980s, Heinz ketchup used the slogan “Good things come to those who wait.” For your clients who are in their 40s or 50s and yearn to get a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (or HECM, commonly called a reverse mortgage) loan, well, like the slow trickle of ketchup out of a glass bottle, they are going to have to let time do its thing and wait at least until they reach the minimum qualifying age of 62.

But let’s assume you have a client who is already 62 or better and wants to leverage his or her home equity one day via a reverse mortgage — should the wait to get one continue or is acting now the optimal strategy?

Brian Ashe is the President of Brian Ashe and Associates, Ltd. He has been a NAIFA member for 51 years and served as the President of the DuPage County Chapter. Since 1969, Brian has assisted clients with life, health, disability, annuity, and equity products in the insurance and investment business. His work concentrates on estate conservation, retirement planning, employee benefits, and business insurance strategies. Brian specializes in business continuity, transition, succession planning, executive benefits, and estate and legacy planning.

New Business Performance Center partner, AccuPoint Solutions, will host a data-driven webinar on Thursday, October 13 at 12 pm eastern. Join Founder & CEO of AccuPoint, Gary Weber, for "Data Diving: Understand and Maximizing Your Most Important Asset." Gary will help you how to best understand the complexity of the data you may have – or may want to purchase – for your sales, marketing, recruiting, and data analytics efforts.

There is a tremendous lack of diversity in financial services and the average age of financial advisors is 57. Part of NAIFA's mission is to help more people become aware of careers in financial services and to create a healthy, diverse workforce. Colleges and universities are filled with America's next generation of agents and advisors. NAIFA wants to be sure that these bright minds are equipped with the resources and a network to get their careers started in the right direction. NAIFA engages with these students through our Future Leaders program and as a gold sponsor at the Gamma Iota Sigma Conference, a professional fraternity for students interested in insurance, risk management, and actuarial science.

NAIFA is proud to announce Harry P. Hoopis, CLU, CHFC, Chief Executive Officer of the Hoopis Performance Network and a renowned entrepreneur, leader, and speaker is the recipient of the 81st annual John Newton Russell Memorial Award. 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. The selection committee consists of representatives of the nine leading organizations in the life insurance and financial services industry. NAIFA President Lawrence Holzberg, LUTCF, LACP, announced Hoopis’s selection during the 2022 Q4 State of NAIFA webinar. Hoopis will be celebrated and formally receive the award at NAIFA’s National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., on November 14.

NAIFA Trustees Win Havir and Aprilyn Chavez Geissler and member Sue Kuraja appeared on a panel at the recent Women in Insurance and Financial Services  (WIFS) National Conference in Phoenix to discuss: "What If the True Kingmaker Is the Queen? Taking the Power of Women to the Polls."

NAIFA and the Society of Financial Service Professionals will host an Advanced Practice Center webinar on Wednesday, October 12 at 2 pm eastern. Presented by John Hancock, join Matthew Gibson and John Snider II, JD as they share their insights in "Is Behavioral Insurance the Future of Life Insurance?"

Tom Michel is the Immediate Past President of NAIFA (National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors), where he has been a member since 1986. He is the Managing Director of Michel Financial Group, where he and his wife have over 70 years of combined experience in the industry. His prior experience includes working as the Managing Partner for New York Life Insurance Company and as a General Agent for UNIFI Companies.

NAIFA IFAPAC contributors received an exclusive elections update from nationally renowned political expert Nathan Gonzales. The webinar provided a big picture overview six weeks out from the November midterms and insights into factors that could turn specific races for House and Senate seats as well as state governorships and determine who will make decisions that will impact NAIFA members’ businesses and clients.