Don’t Restrict Financial Professionals
May 29, 2025
Don’t Restrict Financial Professionals
May 29, 2025
Every day in every state, financial professionals help Americans plan and prepare to achieve financial certainty for their families. America’s life insurers firmly believe that everyone deserves financial security and access to the tools and expertise that financial professionals provide.
But a new proposal in New Jersey could put that at risk.
This proposal would upend the long-standing definition of an “independent contractor,” reclassifying many insurance agents as employees, limiting how they operate, and reducing the choices they can provide the people they serve.
Financial professionals work independently, often with multiple insurers, to tailor solutions that meet people’s unique needs. Restricting that independence would make it harder for New Jersey families to access the wide array of financial protection options insurance agents provide their clients.
Life insurers pay out $8.5 billion each year in life insurance and annuity benefits to New Jersey families. To ensure New Jersey families continue to have unfettered access to financial protection, the independent contractor proposal should be amended so insurance agents can maintain their status as independent contractors.
This would recognize the distinctive nature of the insurance industry. It would also mirror precedents taken by other states including California and Delaware.
Every New Jerseyan should have access to financial security. New Jersey officials can support greater financial security for their citizens by amending the independent contractor proposal and preserving the flexibility and autonomy of insurance agents.
Dennis Cuccinelli
Dennis Cuccinelli, NAIFA Trustee, is from Paramus, New Jersey.
