You Might Need to Help Assess Annuity Shoppers' Debts

The people and companies that help Americans save for retirement might have to try harder to find out how much they owe.

Members of the Annuity Suitability Working Group wants annuity sellers to get a consumer profile that includes information about many matters, including annuity prospects’ “debts and other obligations.”

(Related: Americans in Need of Some Good Financial Advice: Survey)

The working group is part of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Life Insurance and Annuities Committee. It’s working on efforts to strengthen annuity sales standards.

Groups representing life insurers and financial professionals told the working group that some annuity prospects might not be eager to give financial professionals complete information about their debts.

The groups asked the working group to soften the request for information about debts by adding the phrase “to the extent relevant to the recommendation,” according to draft minutes from a working group conference call meeting held Nov. 5.

“Some working group members questioned the value of adding the suggested language,” according to the draft minutes.

In the end, working group members expressed no support for the idea of softening the request for information about annuity prospects’ debts, according to the draft minutes.

The Life Insurance and Annuities Committee included the draft minutes in the document packet for an in-person session it has scheduled for Dec. 7 in Austin, Texas, at the NAIC’s fall national meeting.

Related

A copy of the Life Insurance and Annuities Committee document packet is available here, under the Meeting Materials tab.

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