NAIFA Members Lobby Congress On Tax Reform

By Cyril Tuohy

InsuranceNewsNet

About 1,000 members of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) traveled to Capitol Hill to lobby congressional leaders not to change the favorable tax treatment of many life insurance products.

Earlier this year, President Obama, in his State of the Union address, urged Congress to reform the tax code by eliminating loopholes and deductions. Proponents of tax reform say changes are necessary to help reduce the federal deficit.

But NAIFA warned that the proposed reforms could dampen demand for life insurance products. “If tax reform makes life insurance products less attractive, NAIFA members believe that more families will have less incentive to consider these products and may turn to government entitlement programs to provide for them in difficult times,” NAIFA president Robert Smith said in a statement.

The visits to Capitol Hill come on the last day of NAIFA’s two-day Congressional Conference at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City, Va.

On Monday, thousands of financial advisors were treated to issue briefings and prepared remarks from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and former Idaho governor Dirk Kempthorne, president and chief executive officer of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI).

“NAIFA members are passionate about tax reform because they know better than anyone that life insurance products are so important to their clients and the U.S. economy,” Susan Waters, NAIFA chief executive officer, said in a statement. “That’s why so many of them are anxious to travel to Washington and tell their stories to Congress.”

The Congressional Conference is the third in a series of grassroots events organized by a coalition of life insurance companies, agents and financial advisors to educate Congress on the role insurance products play in protecting American families.

The coalition, SecureFamily.org, includes the American Council of Life Insurers, the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting, GAMA International, the Insured Retirement Institute, the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

Life insurance provides 20 percent of Americans’ long-term savings, pays out more than $1.5 billion in benefits every day, and directly supports 2.5 million U.S. jobs, according to SecureFamily.org.

Editor’s note:  Spread the message, answer the call to arms and help your industry. Learn more about why you should take action and get all the resources you need at www.INNvolved.org.

Cyril Tuohy is a writer living in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. He has also written about food, restaurants and travel. Contact him at Cyril.tuohy@innfeedback.com.

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Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. He can be reached at cyril.tuohy@innfeedback.com.