Marketing Compliantly in the 403(b) Marketplace

*A note for our agencies – feel free to use these articles in your communications with your agents.  Please include any disclosures that appear with the article.

Developing clear, workable marketing for the 403(b) plan arena begins by getting familiar with this distinct market, building successful relationships, and partnering with National Life Group (“NLG”).  403(b) plans is the name for retirement plans that can be offered by non-profit institutions such as schools, hospitals, churches and municipalities.  In this article, we are referring specifically to plans in Kindergarten through 12^th grade (“K-12”) schools.

Why should you consider this market?

• These are recurring premiums that generally continue every month and year until the school employee retires.
• Working with school employees is a great way to build a referral network to grow your business.
• There are over 8 million employees in these schools!¹
• School employees need to save for a successful retirement. Depending on tenure and length of service, employees may see their Teacher’s Pension provide as little as 44% of their working salary.²
  • This is referred to as the Retirement Income Gap. It’s a crisis that school employees could face. You can help educate employees about their state pension and highlight any income gap.
• Many states have underfunded pensions, putting their guarantees at risk.³

There is a huge opportunity for you to help these employees save more, in a tax-advantaged manner, to supplement their Teacher’s Pension and help provide them a more secure retirement.

Many K-12 school districts have special rules or solicitation restrictions. You should only be solicitating in slots in which you are approved to market. In the case of schools/districts, you must be approved by both the school/district and NLG first.  It is extremely important that you have prior approval, as the risk of not following these guidelines could lead to ejection from the district slot due to unapproved marketing and could also negatively impact NLG’s opportunity to be added to a school’s 403(b) plan in the future.

Most K-12 schools typically only allow 403(b) annuity plans to be sold on school property.  Many schools only allow the selling of investment products that the school district has approved for the 403(b) plan. Life insurance is not an investment choice offered within a 403(b) plan. Check with school authorities prior to soliciting business on other products, such as life insurance to ensure there are no limitations on what you can offer.

Anything you produce, present, or use to attract clients, regardless of whether it is delivered verbally, in print, or electronically (email, web, etc.) is considered advertising.  Any advertising used to sell retirement products in an NLG K-12 403(b) plan, even if NLG is not mentioned, needs prior approval from the Advertising Guidance Team (“AGT”).  This can be accomplished by completing the Compliance Review Request form (Catalog No. 43100), located on the Agent Portal, and submitting the completed form and advertising to AGT@Nationallife.com.

Steps to Take

Start by reaching out to your Retirement Services Relationship Manager, who will work closely with you to build new relationships and provide tips to help you service current ones.

• Attend 403(b) Certified Training. Upon completion of the training and submission of five 403(b) flow annuity policies, you will receive a certified badge that will give you a competitive advantage in getting access to public schools.
• Spend some time getting familiar with the 403(b) Plan Playbooks. These playbooks will help you develop a compliant plan for success in marketing in this arena.  The playbooks offer steps to help you find and engage prospects, build successful relationships, and provide helpful tools to serve your clients, new and existing, including emails, flyers, talking points, and much more. These are located at Marketing>>Market Yourself>>Marketing eKits on the Agent Portal of the NLG website.
• Remember the LifeChanger of the Year (“LCOY”)! This annual program recognizes and rewards K-12 educators and school employees across the country.  NLG’s program celebrates those who are making a significant difference in the lives of students by exemplifying excellence, positive influence, and leadership. LCOY is a great way for agents to introduce themselves at the school level. Nominations for the 2024-2025 school year are now open. Agents can also nominate a LCOY. Check out the newly revamped webpage at Lifechangeroftheyear.com.

If you have questions or are unsure if your advertising needs prior approval, please reach out to your dedicated AGT team member or email AGT@Nationallife.com.

1. Education Week, School Staffing by the Numbers, July, 2022
2. Thomas Fordham Institute, The romance versus reality of teacher pensions, May, 2022
3. The Brookings Institute, Teacher pensions systems are increasingly underfunded…, June, 2023