75 Million American Families Count on Life Insurers' Products

Washington, D.C. (February 25, 2013) — More than 140 life insurance professionals from across the nation will visit Capitol Hill on February 28 to talk to Members of Congress about the role life insurers’ products play in American families’ financial lives.

Americans to Protect Family Security, a partnership of America's life insurance companies, agents, and financial advisors, organized the ‘fly-in.” Coalition partners educate policymakers about the reasons families turn to life insurance companies and trusted agents and advisors to protect their financial futures with life insurance, annuities, long-term care, and disability income insurance.

Fly-in participants also will stress to Congress that at a time of strained federal entitlement programs, as well as state and local programs, industry products represent solutions to Americans’ financial and retirement security concerns.

Indeed, life insurers’ products are greatly helping Americans today. For example:

• 75 million American families count on life insurers’ products for peace of mind, long-term savings and a guarantee of lifetime income when it’s time to retire.
• The life insurance industry pays out $1.5 billion every day through payments from life insurance, annuities and other retirement products, long-term care insurance and disability income insurance.
• Savings in permanent life insurance and annuities represent more than 20 percent of Americans’ long-term savings – that’s one in every 5 dollars saved.

Americans to Protect Family Security includes the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Association for Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU), GAMA International, Insured Retirement Institute (IRI), National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), and National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA).

For more information, visit www.securefamily.org.

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The Association for Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU) is a professional trade association representing 2,000 life insurance agents and professionals nationwide, who have significant expertise and are industry leaders in the sale and use of life insurance in estate planning, charitable planning, business continuation planning, retirement planning, deferred compensation and employee benefit planning. The mission of AALU is to promote, preserve and protect advanced life insurance planning for the benefit of its members, their clients, the industry and the general public. AALU’s website can be accessed at www.aalu.org.

The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association with more than 300 legal reserve life insurer and fraternal benefit society member companies operating in the United States. ACLI members represent more than 90 percent of the assets and premiums of the life insurance and annuity industry. In addition to life insurance and annuities, ACLI member companies offer pensions, 401(k) and other retirement plans, long-term care and disability income insurance, and reinsurance. ACLI’s public website can be accessed at www.acli.com.

GAMA International is a worldwide professional association serving 5,500 field leaders in the insurance and financial services industry. Its members recognize their critical role in finding, building and inspiring the next generation of top performers who will, in their turn, lead the industry into the future. To help build these leaders, the association provides its members with professional development resources and opportunities, including educational, networking and leadership. GAMA International’s website is located at www.gamaweb.com.

The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) is a not-for-profit organization that for twenty years has been a mainstay of service, commitment and collaboration within the insured retirement industry. Today, IRI is considered to be the authoritative source of all things pertaining to annuities, insured retirement strategies and retirement planning. IRI’s members are the major insurers, asset managers, broker-dealers/distributors, and 150,000 financial professionals. IRI exists to vigorously promote consumer confidence in the value and viability of insured retirement strategies, bringing together the interests of the industry, financial advisors and consumers under one umbrella. For more information visit www.IRIonline.org.

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) was founded in 1890 as The National Association of Life Underwriters (NALU). NAIFA is one of the nation’s oldest and largest associations representing the interests of insurance professionals from every Congressional district in the United States. NAIFA members assist consumers by focusing their practices on one or more of the following: life insurance and annuities, health insurance and employee benefits, multiline, and financial advising and investments. NAIFA’s mission is to advocate for a positive legislative and regulatory environment, enhance business and professional skills, and promote the ethical conduct of its members. www.naifa.org.

The National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) is a nonprofit trade association with 375 member agencies in the U.S., representing 250,000 producers who deliver more than one billion dollars in first year life insurance premiums annually. NAILBA is dedicated to fostering the growth of its member agencies by providing educational resources, industry standards and a collective voice for legislative and regulatory efforts. Each of NAILBA’s members commits to a statement of responsibilities to ethically and responsibly serve their clients’ best interests. www.nailba.org.