Get Smart About Retirement Security
Whether you are starting your career or counting down the days to retirement, financial and insurance planning should be a priority. Retirement security encompasses a broad spectrum of financial tools, including many insurance-related products and services. This includes life insurance and annuities, long-term care insurance and the manner in which insurance products are marketed and sold to consumers. The NAIC promotes retirement security through consumer education, consumer protection and innovation. We encourage you to get smart about insurance and your retirement security.
Education
Insurance education is the first and best resource for consumer protection. State insurance regulators encourage consumers to collect information, ask questions and check with their state insurance department before buying or changing policies. Insure U offers an array of tools to help consumers make smart insurance choices by providing information specific to life stage, life event or kinds of policies.
According to Consumer Reports, there is more than $1 billion in unclaimed and lost life insurance benefits in the U.S. Learn how to find a lost life insurance policy here: Finding A Lost Life Insurance Policy. You also may be able to use the Lost Life Policy Locator to search for a misplaced policy.
The NAIC is also working to help consumers understand insurance implications of retirement planning at all life stages. Insurance and financial consideration needs vary, so we’ve created a retirement security checklist, along with the tools and resources listed below.
State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs)
SHIPs offer local, personalized counseling and assistance to people with Medicare and their families.
Consumer Alerts & Guides:
- Making $ense of Health Insurance After Retirement
- Insurance Considerations for Caregivers
- Tools for Retirement: Is an annuity right for you?
- Annuities and Veterans Pension Qualification
- Modern Families Have Unique Insurance Needs: Considerations for Multigenerational Households
- Buyer's Guide for Deferred Annuities
- Long-term Care Insurance Buyer’s Guide
- Choosing a Medigap Policy Guide
Additional Resources:
- National Council for Aging Care
- Official Social Security Website
- Social Security Calculators to Plan Your Future
- Administration on Aging
- Department of Labor: Making Your Retirement Look Great
- Department of Labor: What Do You Want Your Retirement to Look Like?
- 3 Easy Ways to Boost Your Retirement Savings
- Evaluating Your Retirement Options
- Medicare & You 2016
- MyRA.gov
- Serve Our Seniors
Consumer Protection
State insurance regulators diligently monitor the marketplace and address fraud and other unlawful practices affecting consumers. Working through the NAIC, regulators monitor current laws and regulations to ensure they are consistent with public policy needs. They also work with consumer advocacy groups, as well as other state and federal partners to shape policies that evolve with the ever-changing insurance marketplace.
The Center for Insurance Policy and Research:
- CIPR Study: The State of Long-Term Care Insurance: The Market, Challenges and Future Innovations
- CIPR Symposium on Retirement Issues Facing Baby Boomers | Video
- Long-Term Care
- Longevity Risk
Model Regulations:
- Annuity Disclosure Model Regulation (#245)
- Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275)
- Use of Senior Specific Certification and Designations in the Sale of Life Insurance and Annuities (#278)
Take Action:
- Beware of fraud.
- Looking for a lost insurance policy? Contact your state insurance department.
- Have a problem with your insurance company? Contact your state insurance department for help.
- Finding an insurance company can be a challenge. The NAIC’s Consumer Information Source (CIS) provides information about insurance companies you can use before purchasing insurance.
Innovation
The NAIC is working to identify and address areas to enhance laws and regulations to promote and encourage innovation in the insurance industry.
The association routinely holds forums for insurance regulators, consumer groups and insurance industry representatives to identify new and and/or redesigned products that are affordable and meet consumer needs.
The NAIC is also working to understand how new technologies impact consumers while also exploring how they can be used to benefit consumers and the insurance industry.
State insurance regulators serve on several NAIC committees to foster innovative laws and regulations. The NAIC is committed to responding to changes in the insurance market, exploring how to support products that best serve consumers, monitoring market regulatory process for continuous improvement and striving to ensure the availability and affordability of insurance.
These committees act to:
- Respond to changes in the insurance market,
- Explore how to support products that best serve consumers,
- Monitor market regulations to find improvements, and
- Strive to ensure insurance is available and affordable.
