Annuity Facts: State Requirements, Passed and Pending

There are currently 10 states that have adopted regulations requiring further annuity education: California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Wisconsin. In addition, the District of Columbia has also adopted such regulations. Each state law has its own specific requirements and training deadlines, which you can obtain through NAFA. Generally, each state will set an effective date and give currently licensed producers a six-month window in which to complete the course. New producers will be required to take the course with their licensing or before selling annuities. California retains its eight-hour training course, followed by an ongoing four-hour course at license renewal.

In addition, nine states have proposed regulations: Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. These states’ current proposed language requires similar annuity training requirements as the states that have adopted requirements.

We have been made aware that New Jersey agents may have been incorrectly alerted to “new” suitability requirements by an unrelated source. There are currently no annuity training requirements for existing or new producers licensed in New Jersey. New Jersey simply adopted amendments to existing code that have no bearing on annuity-specific continuing education.

In this monthly column, the National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) will provide essential information about fixed annuity product features, regulation, tax issues, and industry news. We invite you, the reader, to send us any questions that you often hear — or that you may have yourself. Submit your questions to [email protected] with the subject line “Fixed Annuity FAQ” to have your problems answered here.

The National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) is a national trade association exclusively dedicated to promoting the awareness and understanding of fixed annuities — including income, declared rate, market value adjusted, and indexed. You can follow NAFA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nafausa.

For more exclusive annuity coverage, visit ASJ’s Annuity Resource Center.

Past annuity coverage from ASJonline.com: