naifa Member: SERVING AMERICA S NEIGHBORHOODS FOR 120 YEARS National Aociation of Inurance and Financial Advior
Serving America Neigborhood for Over 120 Year Since 1890, NAIFA ha worked to afeguard the financial interet of the public and protect the important relationhip between agent and their client. Q: A: Why do conumer need qualified, licened agent to help them with their inurance and financial need? NAIFA Member John Ruckel, an inurance agent for more than 40 year in Nacogdoche, TX, um it up bet. Nacogdoche i a relatively mall town of 30,000 people, ituated jut north of Houton. It a college town with a large rural population. I came to college here decade ago and tarted elling and ervicing my client while I wa finihing up my degree, ay Ruckel. I tayed and watched our familie and buinee grow up together. I know them on a peronal bai. Our live are intertwined, and there i abolutely no way a government intitution could ever replace the ecurity of knowing the peron on the other end of the phone line. Hitorically, the agent ytem ha been the principle method of ditribution for private life and health inurance. Agent are the eential link between the conumer and the inurance company, providing and ervicing the product of the inurer while educating the conumer on how to manage rik and how to make informed choice regarding their inurance purchae. Small buinee and individual alo rely on the advice of their agent for financial and retirement planning. Here are ome example of partnerhip that clearly demontrate the intimacy of the relationhip between agent and their client. Conumer want peronal, one-on-one ervice that can only be delivered by the agent.
Providing Peace of Mind Dr. Corinne Zimmerman own Hearing Health Care Aociate dedicated to providing the bet in hearing health care ervice to local reident. HHCA employ even taff with branche in Topham and Auguta, ME. She turned to her agent, Michelle Raber, for planning advice. Small Buine Owner Corinne Zimmerman Michelle know me and my buine and what I m trying to accomplih. She helped u with a imple retirement plan that work for my employee and i affordable for me a the employer. I ve worked with her for eight year. She watche out for what I need and make ure that I m covered appropriately. How do you put a price tag on that kind of peace of mind? NAIFA Member Michelle Raber A a mall buine owner myelf, I enjoy working with other mall buine owner to help protect what they have worked o hard to build. It i my job to help look for the gap and overlap in their inurance plan to enure they are protected for the rik of everyday life. Every buine owner hould have their own board of director which hould include a truted attorney, accountant, a well a a profeional inurance advior to help them react and plan for their buine. Not only can an inurance advior help in rik management, but alo in building aet for retirement, who will take over the buine at retirement, and how the purchae can be funded. By undertanding what i important to my client, I am bet poitioned to help them build their buine, retain employee, and protect their future. Offering Invaluable Service and Education Founded in 2004 and headquartered in the Silicon Valley in California, Achronix Semiconductor i a high-tech company. In thi highly competitive, cutting-edge environment, HR Director Shani Croby need her employee benefit plan to be the leat of her worrie. Her health broker, Amy Byrne at Vita Inurance Aociate, Inc. know thi, and undertand the complexitie and the importance of the firm health inurance need. HR Profeional Shani Croby Working with Amy and the team at Vita add value to our benefit program. At our inception we worked with a PEO for our benefit need, but when I came on board I chooe to make a witch to Vita. They have aited u with many apect of our employee benefit package, including health plan election, cot-haring proviion, preparation of eay-to-undertand benefit ummarie and compliance with benefit neceary law uch a ERISA, COBRA, and HIPAA. A each new employee i hired, Amy ee to it that they receive a peronal orientation on their health inurance and other employee benefit plan. Benefit plan detail are reviewed, peronal quetion are anwered, and enrollment document are completed. Thi knowledge and ervice i invaluable. We recognize that the agent ervice enhance the value of our employee benefit plan, and it i highly unlikely that uch a value could ever be replaced by any government-run health care ytem. The bottom line i, he i alway jut a phone call away and anxiou to ait me with my mot baic or complex need. NAIFA Member Amy Byrne Agent and broker act a employee benefit manager for mall and mid-ized employer who may not be large enough to have a dedicated employee benefit manager. Vita act a Acrhonix benefit conultant, reviewing their benefit plan option, aiting with tate and federal compliance, adminitering their benefit plan on a daily bai, and tructuring affordable program for their employee. Simply put, we are their health inurance advocate.
Giving Peronalized Aitance Brenda Walker i the inurance clerk for the city of Springdale, AR. Springdale employ 430 full-time employee and i located in Northwet Arkana, approximately 5 mile north of Fayetteville. Springdale ha worked with agent Sheron Harp and Cammie Scott at AFLAC for year. City Inurance Clerk Brenda Walker I feel very fortunate to have a local AFLAC office taff jut a phone call away. Sheron Harp and her taff have been, and continue to be, extremely helpful to me and the employee of the City of Springdale ince they have become our inurance Flex Plan Adminitrator. A new employee are hired, Sheron meet with them peronally and anwer any quetion they may have and make ure they are enrolled in the City of Springdale benefit. Sheron alo work cloely with our payroll director to enure that employee benefit information i communicated correctly and in a timely fahion for deduction purpoe. A a large employer, the City of Springdale realize that having a local agent office i invaluable. NAIFA Member Sheron Harp Over the year, I have come to undertand jut how important an agent i in helping client. Thi buine i contantly changing. Being able to implify and explain the change bring huge value to the relationhip I have with Brenda and the City of Springdale. Helping them addre and olve their inurance need i my top priority. Saving Buinee and Keeping Familie Together Branco Enterprie, Inc. i a family owned apparel company baed in Aheboro, NC. Founded in 1968, Branco ha over 40 employee and provide mall independent retailer with promotional branded and nonbranded apparel. They have worked with their agent, Ron Erickon, for year. Small Buine Owner Carrie Coleman If it weren t for Ron and the inurance he recommended for u, my family would have been out in the cold after my father died. Thankfully, we had adequate life inurance and did not have to ell the family buine or hi real etate to pay for the etate taxe. Ron explain thing o we can undertand them and ha protected u on thing we would normally not pay attention to. He look out for what we need and provide trong guidance through the proce. NAIFA Member Ron Erickon I ve worked with Branco Enterprie for over 25 year. Year ago, I convinced them that they needed a ucceion plan, and we worked with an attorney to draft a buyell agreement funded with life inurance. Now I m working with the third generation with a buy-ell agreement to protect their heir and the buine a well. During thi proce they are trying to keep the family buine in the family.
Acting a Their Employee Benefit Manager Terry Jannen, CPA, of Jannen & Company employ 30 people in hi firm in Pewaukee, WI, a uburb of Milwaukee. Hi client are owner-managed mall buinee. Jannen began working with hi agent, Terry Frett of Frett Barrington, Ltd., over 10 year ago to meet hi firm health inurance and group benefit need, which include group diability inurance, group life inurance, and dental inurance. Small Buine Owner Terry Jannen We are alway looking for partnerhip to help u and our client. I trut Terry Frett advice for my buine and for my client buinee a well. He know our need and hop the market for u to make ure we have the bet olution poible. He even gone back to the inurance company to negotiate a better rate. We contact him every month peronalized ervice we could not get if we had to call an 800 number or a government agency. NAIFA Member Terry Frett My relationhip with Terry Jannen i imilar to all of our other mall buine client. Thee firm do not have a fulltime HR taff o it i the owner or another aociate of the firm that ha the added tak of managing their employee benefit program. Thi tak become more complicated a the government continue to add additional employer reponibility with a recent example being the new ARRA COBRA premium ubidy that wa contained in the Stimulu Act. Small buine owner like Terry rely on their benefit advior to not only navigate their way through fringe benefit option but the ongoing adminitration of thoe program. Being a member of NAIFA reinforce our commitment to our indutry, our client, and our profeion a truted advior. Laying Out the Bet Poible Choice Jeff Frazier i preident of Cellular Today, an authorized agent for US Cellular. He own 10 retail cellular tore throughout Miouri and employ 32 people. Jeff contacted agent Jeff Hagan to help him ort out hi group health inurance plan. Small Buine Owner Jeff Frazier Steve alo own a mall buine and undertand firthand the challenge we face. I wa truggling with the cot of group health inurance. Steve came up with everal olution that would help me retain my quality employee, and not break the budget. Being able to it down face-to-face to dicu olution made all the difference in the world. I value that peronal relationhip. NAIFA Member Steve Hagan My mall buine client are buy doing what they do bet. They rely on me to guide them through the complexitie of their employee benefit option. They want to do buine with omeone in their community that they can trut and build a relationhip with. Someone that can help them olve their buine and financial need.
Turning Client into Friend Adron Ming of Carrollton, TX, ha known hi inurance agent, Tom Currey, for year. Conumer Adron Ming A a client, I ve alway felt that Tom wa offering me product that were epecially good for me, not necearily good for him. He not trying tell ell me omething I don t need. We talk and he give me hi recommendation for what would be bet for me. Above everything, I appreciate hi friendhip. NAIFA Member Tom Currey In addition to being my client, Adron i my bet friend of almot forty year. From a buine tandpoint, though, whether bet friend or caual acquaintance, I take pecial care and plenty of time to get to know my client. Any recommendation for product are tailored to meet their need and goal. My client tell me regularly that my peronalized ervice i worth it weight in gold. NAIFA Code of Ethic I Believe It To Be My Reponibility: To hold my profeion in high eteem and trive to enhance it pretige. To fulfill the need of my client to the bet of my ability. To maintain my client confidence. To render exemplary ervice to my client and their beneficiarie. To adhere to profeional tandard of conduct in helping my client to protect inurable obligation and attain their financial ecurity objective. To preent accurately and honetly all fact eential to my client deciion. To perfect my kill and increae my knowledge through continuing education. To conduct my buine in uch a way that my example might help raie the profeional tandard of thoe in my profeion. To keep informed with repect to applicable law and regulation and to oberve them in the practice of my profeion. To cooperate with other whoe ervice are contructively related to meeting the need of my client.
The Value of the Agent The commiion or other compenation earned by inurance agent not only compenate them for the ale of a product but, in addition, for performing thee other baic ervice: They work with client to evaluate their need for inurance protection. Thi may involve ubtantial reearch and fact finding about the client need. Thi i an ongoing proce ince need continuouly change a a peron family and employment ituation change. They educate by explaining the variou plan available and provide appropriate cot indexe. They make pecific recommendation that uit the client objective and budget. Often an inurance plan i deigned by the agent to fit a client pecial need. They encourage the client to act in a timely manner to aure that the proper coverage are in place when they are needed. They alo ee to it that accurate and complete information i provided to the inurer to make ure that the client get the very bet premium available. They keep in touch with the client and review or update coverage on a periodic bai. They ugget change when appropriate and counel client on way to reduce cot. Often they mut ait their client in reviewing the need for legal and tax compliance, recommending other profeional aitance when neceary. They ait with claim, anwer quetion and erve a ombudmen in helping their client deal with inurance companie. Agent often pend a great deal of time helping client aemble the proper documentation needed to file or follow up on a claim. Thi i epecially true with enior who receive Medicare benefit. They ait buine owner in communicating their benefit package to their employee, often directly aiting the employee in eeing how the benefit coordinate with their peronal financial program, a well a thoe provided by government entitie. All agent are licened and regulated by their tate inurance department. Propective agent receive extenive training about inurance and applicable inurance law prior to taking a written exam leading to licening. In addition, a majority of tate now require continuing education in order for agent to maintain their licene.
About NAIFA: NAIFA comprie more than 700 tate and local aociation repreenting the interet of approximately 200,000 agent and their aociate nationwide. NAIFA member focu their practice on one or more of the following: life inurance and annuitie, health inurance and employee benefit, multiline, and financial adviing and invetment. The Aociation miion i to advocate for a poitive legilative and regulatory environment, enhance buine and profeional kill, and promote the ethical conduct of it member. National Aociation of Inurance and Financial Advior 2901 Teletar Court Fall Church, VA 22042-1205 703/770-8100 www.naifa.org Revied 05/10