NAIFA government relations NAIFA at Work for Our Nation’s Veterans

Thanks to NAIFA’s advocacy, the number of states participating in the GI Bill for Veterans’ program has grown exponentially.

By Steve Kline

Many NAIFA state associations asked their state insurance regulators that they would like to become involved in this program to help our veterans.

It is widely known in the industry that NAIFA consistently advocates on behalf of its members and their clients for public policy that promotes financial security. At the same time, the association also supports initiatives that encourage individuals to join our great profession and become financial advisors.

Late last year, NAIFA learned about a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program that reimburses military veterans for the cost of taking various professional licensing exams, including the exam to become a licensed insurance producer.

NAIFA strongly supports this VA program, which could help to incentivize military veterans to consider becoming licensed insurance producers. Former members of the military possess tremendous dedication and work ethic and are the types of individuals the association encourages to join the industry. That’s why NAIFA has actively promoted initiatives to encourage veterans to pursue financial- services careers.

In fact, we are proud and honored to have veterans as part of our membership. Scott Wolf, past president of NAIFA-Minnesota and a United States Air Force veteran, recently explained that the military teaches certain skills—leadership, teamwork, service, and commitment—which transfer to a post-military career as an advisor.

“Building a practice as an advisor requires leadership of self and staff,” Wolf said. “This is critical in planning, goal setting, hiring, as well as in leading your team. No one does this alone. Further, once the service model has been established, the commitment to fulfill the objective and finish what you start is at the core of most military training that I recall.”

Jennifer Long, an Army veteran and a New Jersey based financial advisor, also noted how her military background helped prepare her for a new career. “My military career spanned three decades, holding many positons as I rose through the ranks, retiring at the highest enlisted rank of Sergeant Major. In my final combat deployment, I was assigned as a combat advisor to the French Army to develop the Afghan Police. This was a culmination of skills acquired over my career—many of which carried over to my current financial-advisory practice, such as being goal- and detail-orientated, self-motivated, developing critical thinking and analysis skills, and having high moral and ethical values.”

The GI bill for veterans

Under the GI Bill’s Licensing and Certification benefit, veterans may be eligible for up to $2,000 for the cost of taking an exam to become a licensed or certified professional in various fields, including insurance. However, to be eligible for the VA examination reimbursement, a veteran must live in a state that participates in the VA program, and states must have their licensing examinations approved by a regional VA office.

This led both NAIFA-National and numerous NAIFA state associations to start lobbying state insurance commissioners to urge them to participate in the VA program. NAIFA-National testified before the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and asked state insurance departments to get their examinations approved by the VA.

In addition, many NAIFA state associations approached their respective state insurance regulators to ask that they become involved in this important program to assist our nation’s veterans. Largely thanks to the efforts of NAIFA’s advocacy, the number of states participating in the program has grown from six at the beginning of 2017 to nearly two dozen.

While this is tremendous progress, we hope the remaining states will soon come on board. To find out if your state is participating in the VA program, visit the NAIFA website (http://www.naifa.org/advocacy/state-issuespositions/veteran-reimbursement) where you can view a map of the states where veterans are eligible for this VA benefit.

If your state is not yet participating and your state association wants to encourage your insurance department to partner with the VA on this issue, please contact the NAIFA-National Government Relations office staff, who can provide your insurance department with the names of individuals at regional VA offices across the nation that you can contact to facilitate state involvement in the VA examination-reimbursement program.

NAIFA would like to thank and express our support for our nation’s veterans. We will continue to promote this VA benefit—it’s the least we can do to show our appreciation for our veterans’ sacrifice and services.

Steve Kline is director, NAIFA’s Government Relations Department. Contact him at skline@naifa.org

Using a Holistic Approach with your Clients

This approach allows you to take an in-depth look at every financial aspect of your client’s life in order to make it better or more efficient.

©ISTOCK.COM/POGONICI

By John Smallwood, CFP

We have to look at the big picture to understand where everything is personally and professionally.

With nearly 30 years of experience in the life insurance industry, one of the most important things I can do for my clients is provide them with a holistic overview of their financial situation. Holistic can mean different things to many people. For me, it is an in-depth look at every financial vehicle or transaction in their lives. Can we reduce taxes? Can we reduce risk? And if they own a business, can we make it more profitable? We look at it differently from the way the client does because he or she has been doing it the same way every day for years. Our goal is to make it more efficient and better.

Our clients often first come to us with a crisis or a problem. These questions lead us into developing a holistic approach. They often aren’t expecting this for their financial strategy, but when our conversation unfolds, it’s what they want.

Our questions are very in-depth—a type of “who, what, why, when, where and how” process. This is usually one of the best conversations the client has had because he or she typically goes somewhere else and gets: “What is it that you want to achieve, and here’s our financial product.” They sell the product to them, and it’s a onemeeting transaction.

Our approach is different. It is to understand where our clients currently are. Let’s review the facts and organize them in a way that makes sense so we can understand how their current plan is working.

Most of the time, people have no idea what their overall financial picture is since they are only focused on one aspect—putting a child through college, retiring, buying a house or solving a business problem. They come to us for one thing, but it is my job to tell them it’s about everything.

It’s a balancing act—acknowledging their crisis, goal or immediate need while also taking a much wider look. We have to look at the big picture to understand where everything is personally and professionally. It’s not just a result of one issue but could be from multiple areas.

Starting the client conversation

I always begin the conversation by asking questions about the family. What’s the makeup of the family? How old are the children and the parents? The dynamics of the family are going to help dictate what’s going on with their total financial picture. Then I review their income stream, followed by their tax stream, savings and debt structure. After that, we discuss how their income minus taxes, savings and the debt structure should equal their lifestyle. With these components, I can begin to understand what’s going on in their financial plan and how much they have accumulated in specific areas.

Then our conversation comes to identifying their goals, which is when you can truly understand the dynamics of a client. It’s a big picture. Most people never know what they’re paying in taxes, how much they are saving or what their debt payments are. In my experience, I have found most people don’t really understand any of these things. When you walk someone through this conversation, you’ll know exactly where the positive and the weak areas are.

We then discuss how life insurance can be the most important part of their financial strategy. Everyone has a timeline for his or her life, and life insurance plays a major role in every part. A client’s life is his or her most important asset—both for themselves and their families. But out of all the assets he or she owns, most people never consider themselves as one. Their cars, houses, valuables, home furnishings, or anything else usually comes to mind but they often don’t realize that their own life is the most important asset they can have.

The protection life insurance offers is critical. The earlier they have coverage, the less expensive and better off it is in the long run. If they are putting all their money in savings and investing and without any protection, they don’t have a good plan. And if all their money is going into protection with no savings, they also don’t have a good plan. They need to have an optimal balance, and a holistic approach helps achieve that.

John Smallwood, CFP, is president of Smallwood Wealth Management in Red Bank, N.J. He has been affiliated with Ohio National Financial Services since December 1996. He can be reached at 732.542.1565 or johnl@smallwoodwealth.com.