Nate’s Notes

Hello all! Welcome to a new monthly series, Nate’s Notes. In order to keep you all apprised of what is taking place at the NTSA, I’m going to share an update on where I’ve been and what the NTSA has been doing.

For my inaugural note, I’m writing from the airplane on my way to the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) annual event. I am looking forward to seeing many of our advisors, strategic partners, as well as hundreds of school business officials. We will be discussing CRES and how the CRES program can support the districts in Massachusetts. The nest stop on this East Coast tour is Maryland, where I will head over to their ASBO to have the same discussions as we do all we can to make CRES a nationally recognized and utilized program. 

We haven’t been focused on just the East Coast: A couple of weeks ago we spoke to an enthusiastic and packed room at the Illinois ASBO. 
Helping school business officials see what we are doing opens eyes—and doors. One by one, they’ll come to understand that we provide unbiased, product neutral education to educators state by state.

The Bigger Picture

As this is my first note, let’s have a little recap on what we stand for and why we do what we do. 

It is possible that the retirement industry has never been under as much scrutiny as it is right now.

The first five months of 2023 have been quite the whirlwind of activity! 

Legislation. We reviewed over 2,700 bills relating to retirement plans across the nation. We prioritized over 150 of those bills and we continue to watch them daily to track their progress. Our goal with each of these bills is to do what we can to ensure that educators have access to an advisor if they want one. We will continue to do everything we can to help educators find support from an advisor if they need help and education when working with their retirement plans.

Advocating. We continue to fight for options inside the supplemental plans in the 403(b)/457(b) market. Some may see this activity as maintaining the status quo, but it is quite the opposite. We work with the industry to improve disclosure and the code of conduct, strengthening client best interest requirements. 

For instance, in the current legislative session, we have been working with Illinois to pass a bill that will open educators access to an advisor in the 457(b) plan. The bill has not passed yet, but we are keeping a close eye on it to help move things along when necessary. 

There are so many options for retirement plans in this industry that it would be an injustice to eliminate or decrease advisor support for a plan participant as they look to their financial future. 

Educating the Educators. Programs like CRES enhance the educator experience while they learn about their state pension plan, social security affects, 403(b) plan, and 457(b) plan. 

Summits. Looking back to look forward! We had an amazing Summit in Florida in February. There is nothing better than to get together to learn from one another and meet up with old friends in the industry. Preparations are well under way for our upcoming 2024 Summit Feb. 25-27. This will be a special event as it is our 35th anniversary, and we are excited to get together to learn and to celebrate together.

Final Thoughts

So that was my recap for the first part of the year. I will be back next month with more notes and look out for me on social media as I track my trek though the nation’s ASBOs. 

Thank you for all you do. I love the opportunity to speak for our industry whenever the chance arrives. We are building amazing opportunities for educators across the country. Thank you and keep up the great work!