2015 March/April Legislation

Life Insurance Industry and OIC Representatives Urge Passage of OIC Request Legislation Modernizing Life Insurance Reserve Requirements

Although the House Appropriations Committee failed to consider and approve SB 5180 before the April 7 deadline for passage, House leaders have advised the OIC that the bill is not dead. The House Business & Financial Services Committee previously approved a "Do Pass" recommendation for SB 5180, and the bill was referred to the House Appropriations Committee for consideration of fiscal issues. With a deadline for fiscal committee approval on Tuesday, April 7, industry representatives, together with the OIC unsuccessfully urged key members of the House Appropriations Committee to put the bill on an agenda in time for it to be approved before Tuesday’s deadline. Unfortunately, the bill was not scheduled for a hearing before the committee, nor was it brought to a vote. The OIC expressed concern about this development to House leaders, and they were advised that the bill is not dead. House leaders have the option to simply "relieve the committee" of the bill and place it in the House Rules Committee or directly on the House Floor Calendar. The OIC believes that is exactly what will happen in the next day or two.

The measure was introduced at the request of Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler to adopt the NAIC updates to the Standard Valuation and Standard Nonforfeiture laws, including a new approach based on principle-based reserves, and passed the Senate on March 5 on a final vote of 49-0. At the hearing on the measure the American Council of Life Insurers, Allstate, American Family Insurance, and USAA testified in support of the bill. The OIC also spoke in favor of the bill.

2015 March/April LILI

“WANTED:  LILI Candidates for Class of 2015”

Do you want to take your business
to the NEXT level? 

 

Ø  Current 2015 NAIFA Washington State Leaders that are LILI Graduates:  8 of the 11!

Ø  70 percent of LILI graduates report a measurable increase in the growth of their business.

 

The Leadership in Life Institute (LILI) curriculum is based on the leadership writings of Stephen Covey, John Maxwell, Jim Collins, and Kouzes & Posner.

What Will You Gain as a NAIFA LILI Graduate?

1.    Creative and effective methods to develop and execute a business plan

2.    Tools and techniques that enhance your practice

3.    Increased productivity

4.    Enhanced personal vision and mission statements and guiding principles

5.    Improved professional and personal relationships

6.    Increased understanding of one's self

7.    Long-lasting bonds with classmates and LILI Alumni

2015 March/April Past President's Message

I Learned It All In Kindergarten

Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but right there in the sandbox at nursery school.

These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Flush. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody… Learn some and think some, and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some…

When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together…

Think of what a better world it would be if we all – the whole world – had cookies and milk about 3 o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them, and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.”

                                              -Robert Fulghum

2015 March/April Advocacy

Senate and House Approve Competing Budget Proposals for 2015-2017 Biennium

Within only few hours of each other, the House and Senate separately approved competing budget plans for the 2015-2017 biennium. The House approved a $39 billion spending plan that will require $1.5 billion in increased taxes. The Senate approved a $38 billion operating budget that does not include tax hikes. The House approved its plan on Thursday, April 2, and the Senate countered with its proposal a few hours later, with action on a series of budget-related bills keeping the Senate working until nearly 4:00 a.m. on Friday morning.

Negotiations to find common ground will be difficult. Senate leaders have indicated that they won’t take the House-passed spending plan seriously until the House approves the taxes that support the spending increases. On the other hand, House leaders argue that the Senate-passed spending plan is more than $40 million short of balancing. With the 2015 Legislative Session scheduled to adjourn on April 26, efforts to find an agreement on the budget will move into high gear.

2015 March/April National Committeeman

SO…YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO…

          YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO…

                   MAYBE THE TIME IS NOW…

Hey, you have been working hard in a very tough profession for a long time now in a very stressful position: that of building as an entrepreneur in the life, health, retirement planning, and client advisory business.  You have had to put in long hours while wrestling two completely different alligators. 

The first is the “learn it from the bottom up” approach that you had to take a blank calendar and fill it with appointments and activity that would allow you to ask the right questions of the right people, people of character, and then design and present financial solutions to generate an income to pay for you and your family to live.

The second was the constant schooling and retraining that was essential to keeping up in this crazy, ever changing world of tax, legal, regulatory and insurance product design and everything that goes with it. 

Ever feel like a one armed paper hanger?  Ever had a stressful day?  Week?  Year?  Sure; me too.

2015 March/April Convention

CONVENTION 2015 ---CRUISE ON OVER TO TACOMA!

Wednesday to Friday, June 3-5, 2015

Best Western Tacoma Dome Hotel

2611 East E St.

Tacoma, Washington

 

Be there! Le May – America’s Car Museum



Have you been to the Le May Car Museum?  Whoa, Nellie!  This is the place for all you Car Guys and Gals!  And if you’re not one, you will be one when you get to see this fabulous tribute to America’s Love Affair with the Auto! 

What you will get:

Indie 500:  John F. Nichols on How to Make Top of the Table, be Involved in NAIFA, and still have Fun!

Under the Hood: Levi Edgecome on Social Security Strategies that Work

Fuel Injection:  Stephen Good on Why Our Networking Fails and What to do to Make it effective

2015 March/April IFAPAC

We talk a lot about the attacks on our noble profession by the government. Well, it doesn’t stop. That is why we urge all NAIFA members to contribute to IFAPAC regularly. NAIFA is the organization that fights for you and your clients every day in DC and in Olympia. Our NAIFA President, Julie McNeeley, made these remarks that address an urgent issue:

“President Obama said in a recent speech that some financial professionals are “selling snake oil” and bilking their retirement clients out of billions of dollars per year. By implication, he zeroed in on advisors who receive commissions as compensation. He said the financial services industry is not well regulated and that many of you and your colleagues are “like the gunslingers of the Wild West.” We at NAIFA know this is patently untrue.

Even more concerning is that beyond the rhetoric, the President has made imposing new layers of regulations on financial professionals a high priority, and your business could be in the crosshairs. Both the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission may soon propose regulations that would create new fiduciary obligations for many advisors.

2015 January/February Administrator Retiring

Linda Fox, NAIFA-Washington’s Administrator will be retiring on June 30, 2015. Linda stepped in when I retired in 2008. There was a lot to learn in a very short time and she learned quickly. Linda’s hard work and dedication is evident in everything she does.   

Linda has always been the “go to person” for whatever you needed. Her friendly outgoing, energetic personality is loved by all.

Please join us in saying thank you and let her know she will be greatly missed. Best wishes, Linda for a great retirement…you deserve it!

 

Cheryl McCracken

IFAPAC-Washington

Administrator

2015 January/February NAIFA-Washington Convention

NAIFA WASHINGTON STATE CONVENTION

HAVE YOU SEEN THE LE MAY CAR MUSEUM IN TACOMA YET?

What are you waiting for?  Check out this 1907 Pierce Great Arrow 4 Cylinder

Touring Motor Car and 300 plus more vintage to modern day vehicles!

When: Wednesday Noon June 3 -- Friday 11 AM June 5, 2015

Where: Best Western Tacoma Dome Hotel, 2611 East E Street, Tacoma, WA 98421
(253)-272-7737

Conveniently located off the City Center Exit of I-5

Who: All Local and State Officer, Board Members, Committee Chairs, Delegates from Locals, and incoming 2015-2016 Officers, Board Members and Committee Chairs, and Members of NAIFA

2015 January/February LILI

LILI Graduates Two from NAIFA Washington!

This year NAIFA Washington joined NAIFA Oregon for our 2014 Leadership In Life Institute class.  We met in Vancouver with 6 participants from Oregon.  Success is when someone lets you know LILI changed their life dramatically and their business grew beyond their expectations!  We have our last class and graduation ceremony on February 20^th at Vancouver, Washington’s historic “Grant House”. 
 

 Congratulations, Joe & Jim!! Your Journey Begins…

 



Joseph M. Newman, LUTCF, FIC, LCTC

 James A. Scott, Sr., LUTCF

WANTED:  Students for the   2015  LILI  Class   

Please contact me for Class registration and information.

Sharon L. Sparling, State LILI Chair/Moderator; (360) 708-3210; Sharon@ssparling.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 January/February Government Relations

 

A Successful NAIFA Washington & WAHU “Day on the Hill”

This year’s “Day on the Hill” was great with about 100 attendees.  Our Lobbyist, Mel Sorensen, again, had a lineup of speakers that were stellar: 

· Catherine Bailey, Director of Healthplanfinder Business

· Senator Jan Angel (R, 26th Legislative District, Majority Caucus vice Chair)

· Representative Eric Pettigrew (D, 37th Legislative District, Majority Caucus Chair)

· John Mangan, Regional Vice President, American Council of Life Insurers

· Jason McGill, Health Policy Advisor – Office of the Governor

· Grace Campbell, Regional Director, State Affairs, America’s Health Insurance Plans

· Sydney Smith Zvara, Executive Director, Association of Washington Healthcare Plans

Attendees got a chance to hear the Update on the Washington Health Benefit Exchange-Healthcare Open Enrollment, Legislative Budget and Policy Priorities for the 2015 Legislative Session, Priorities of Life Insurers and Governor Inslee’s Health Policy Objectives for the 2015 Session.  The best of the morning’s session was the Q&A for the speakers.   We don’t always get the answer we want but we do get our voices heard.

 

2015 January/February Legislation

Legislative Report

 

OIC Request Legislation Modernizing Life Insurance Reserve Requirements Moves Forward in the Senate and House

 

On Wednesday, January 21 the Senate Financial Institutions & Insurance Committee Friday, held a hearing to consider SB 5180—a measure introduced at the request of Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler to adopt the NAIC updates to the Standard Valuation and Standard Nonforfeiture laws, including a new approach based on principle-based reserves. The American Council of Life Insurers, Allstate, American Family Insurance, and USAA testified in support of the bill. The OIC also spoke in favor of the bill. The committee took action and approved a “do pass” recommendation on the bill on Friday, January 23. The bill has been referred to the Senate Rules Committee in preparation for consideration on the Senate floor.

 

A House version of the bill (HB 1076) was approved by the House Business and Financial Services Committee on January 20. HB 1076 has been referred to the House General Government & Information Technology Committee for consideration of the fiscal note on the measure that has been prepared by the OIC. The committee has scheduled a hearing on the measure for Tuesday, February 3. This is a routine referral for review of the fiscal note, and is not expected to significantly delay the progress of the bill. The bill has already been placed on a list of bills to be brought to a vote.

 

2014 November/December LILI

NAIFA Washington LILI 2015 Class Participants needed!

“Kudos to NAIFA for developing such a course! I’ve been involved (both as student and teacher) in Dale Carnegie and various industry designation classes. In my opinion, LILI ranks at the top in helping prioritize what is important in life, and achieving one’s self-determined definition of success.”    Michael Standrod, CLU, REBC - Arkansas

The Leadership in Life Institute (LILI) curriculum is based on the leadership writings of Stephen Covey, John Maxwell, Jim Collins, and Kouzes & Posner.

The institute consists of six sessions over six months:

1.    Identifying One’s Self: Introductions, self-assessments, and identification of personality styles and how to relate to them

2.    Mastering One’s Self: Leadership fundamentals, personal vision and mission

3.    Developing One’s Self: Application of self-mastery skills learned in Session Two

4.    Developing the Leaders Around You: Team-building and working with others to achieve unique goals

5.    Someday All This Will Be…Whose?: Moving from Independence to Interdependence

6.    The Journey Begins – Commencement: Responsibility, renewal and hallmarks of leadership

2014 November/December Government Relations

NAIFA/WAHU "Day on the Hill 2015

January 27, 2015

Phoenix Inn, Olympia, Washington

 

 

NAIFA Washington Members it's time to mark you calendars for our annual NAIFA/WAHU "Day on the Hill". This is going to be a very important year because the State's Budget deficit is BIG! You know we have to be engaged in this process for our clients and for ourselves. Here's what Mel Sorensen, NAIFA-Washington Lobbyist has provided:

Proposed Agenda

8:45                 Welcome and Introductions

9:00-9:30         Update on the Washington Health
                        Benefit Exchange                 

                        Catherine Bailey, Director of
                        Healthplanfinder Business

 

9:30-10:00       Governor Inslee’s Health Policy Objectives for 2015

                        Jason McGill, Health Policy Advisor - Office of the Governor 

 

2014 November/December Solutions Summit

NAIFA Washington Invites You
to Attend the
SOLUTIONSSUMMIT!

Sharon L. Sparling, NAIFA Washington, Government Relations Chair

NAIFA-Washington is partnering with the Washington Policy Center by being a co-presenting organization on WPC’s Solutions Summit on Tuesday, January 6^th, 2015 at the 3 Rivers Convention Center in Tri-Cities and Wednesday, January 7^th, 2015 at the Bellevue Hyatt!

We would like to reserve a spot at each location and need 8 NAIFA WA attendees!  This will save you!  The full day registration of $80 would be $68.75!!  Please let me know right away so I can get WPC your name for this discount.  If we don’t get 8 at each location the cost will be $80 for full day’s events.  Finally, if you have clients that could benefit from attending, please invite them!  “To be Informed is to be Involved!” ~Sharon L. Sparling, NAIFA Washington, Government Relations Chair

2014 November/December Past President's Message

Hero In Our Midst

 

Just a little more than a month ago the joint meeting of NAIFA South Puget Sound and Washington Association of Fraternal Insurance Counselors was held on the Tacoma Waterfront. The purpose of the meeting was to educate and inspire as well as foster comradery between the insurance and financial professionals in attendance.  First we heard from Hal Prucop, attorney at law of Issaquah on some basic estate planning documents and considerations including beneficiary designations that sometimes we take for granted and that may not be in alignment with the desires of our clients and prospects. Hal is a very energetic caring attorney that believes in what we do and supports us.  We then heard from the well respected Bob Pittman, attorney at law from Fircrest. Bob has been an estate planning attorney extraordinaire for many years and I’m sure already known by many of you. Bob also believes in what we do and works very well with us in accomplishing our client’s objectives. He is a strong proponent of life insurance for many reasons that we also believe and shared several sales ideas including at least one that many of us may not have known about. Inherited IRAs are not safe from creditors. Bob shared some real life stories relating to this issue and how we should consider alternatives to the inherited IRA, like life insurance.

2014 November/December In Memoriam

Our beloved Leader for Life of NAIFA-Lower Columbia Major Robert M. Otteraaen USMC Ret., 86, of Kelso passed away Nov. 15, 2014, at home. Many of you experienced Bob’s dry wit, undoubtedly a left over from his career as a U.S. Marine. As a Marine, Bob served in three wars….WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Not too many Generals get to say that!

.......Wayne Lunday

He was born April 25, 1928, in Seattle, to Dr. Andrew O. and Anna (Nelson) Otteraaen. Robert graduated from Wenatchee High School and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in horticulture and a Master of Education in counseling from Washington State University.

On June 13, 1953, he married Marion J. Copeland in Seattle. They moved to Kelso from Camp Lejune Marine Corps Base in 1974. During his military career, Robert served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He went on to teach high school and run a small business in Kelso for financial tax strategies.

2014 November/December LUTC

Grow Your Business

 

NAIFA is always striving to offer the most relevant, timely and useful resources to help our members grow their business. In doing so, it’s important that NAIFA understands your business, products and service offerings to properly develop the programming and tools you need to help take your business to the next level.

Do your part in developing the programming and resources that best relates to you, your business and your product offerings. Update your member profile and assist NAIFA in keeping a pulse on what resources, tools and programming would best serve your professional development needs and help us accomplish our mission of enhancing our members business and professional skills.

2014 November/December IFAPAC

The Thumping Heart of NAIFA

 

The recent elections have been more than a water-cooler topic. You can’t listen to radio or television without hearing about the results nationally. And there is quite a buzz about our local House and Senate races. You need to know that YOUR IFAPAC contributions were well spent on campaigns at the Federal level and State level, too.

You can’t please all of the people all of the time but many of our members are pleased with the shift in power in the US Senate and the Washington State Senate. Almost all of the races in WA that were funded by IFAPAC were winners in their districts. Part of your dues to NAIFA and part of your contributions to IFAPAC are spent at the Federal level. So the thumping heart of NAIFA continues its steady beat, working hard to protect the interests of your clients, your industry and your career. Bob Dylan sang, “Money doesn’t talk, it screams!” and your contributions screamed in this election cycle. Thank you very much.

2014 September/October LUTC

The new LUTCF course curriculum is slated to open for registration beginning after the first of the year.  The actual courses will begin in July 2015. This curriculum has been totally restructured, and only requires 3 classes for the designation.  The cost will be different for members verses non-members, and yes a Revenue sharing will be in place.  If a moderated class is done, the Association will receive 5% of total tuition.  If an individual takes the class online, a 1% revenue share will occur.  These courses will be more expensive than before, but will cover more material.  If you earned your designation with 5 classes, you will have spent roughly the same amount for the new three course program.

This should allow students the ability to earn the designation quicker, but the courses will be a bit tougher.  Start planning to host a class and make your local association so money, along with building that core principal of your NAIFA Membership...Education!  If you aren't keeping your education up, you will become irrelevant.

Roger McDowell, LUTCF

LUTC Chairman