Taking stock of your financial fitness is an important and worthwhile task, and NEA Member Benefits is eager to help! We’ve developed programs tailored to your unique needs that can help you build your savings, obtain competitive rates on loans, finance a home, plan for retirement and more.
We know you put your trust in us to provide high-caliber financial options to NEA members, so we invest a great deal of time in selecting and vetting products and services. This starts with getting to know you—surveying the NEA membership and identifying NEA members’ most pressing needs.
Then we conduct an in-depth evaluation of the marketplace, searching for products that would best serve you. In many cases, a formal bidding process is undertaken, which ensures that a wide breadth of companies and their products are considered.
In order to ensure the quality and value of NEA Member Benefits programs, products and services are evaluated using established, stringent criteria: company financial condition, product accessibility, customer service, features and pricing.
Only after going through that lengthy process are programs then offered to NEA members.
The following six financial programs met that criteria and were built to help you meet your financial goals.
1. NEA® Complimentary Life Insurance. Most NEA members can receive $1,000 of Term Life Insurance at no cost to you. Eligible members are automatically enrolled in the Complimentary Life Insurance Plan simply by joining the NEA and maintaining their membership. This complimentary benefit is a valuable supplement to any coverage you may receive from your school district.
To ensure your loved ones will receive their benefits in a time of need, all you need to do is select your beneficiary or beneficiaries.
NEA member perk: In addition to the $1,000 Term Life Benefit, you’ll receive up to $5,000 of Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) coverage as well as $150,000 of Life Insurance for unlawful homicide while on the job.
2. The NEA Personal Loan. The NEA Personal Loan helps you pay for things that may seem a little out of reach. These include paying off credit cards and other loans, home remodeling projects, weddings, baby expenses—things that you may not be able to cover with your savings. The program features low Fixed APRs, flexible loan terms and no application fees, annual fees or prepayment penalties.1
NEA member perk: As an NEA member, you are also eligible to receive a 0.25% interest rate discount when you enroll in Auto Pay.2
3. The NEA Student Loan programs. The NEA Student Loan programs in partnership with College Ave Student Loans allow you to borrow up to 100% of your school-certified educational costs at competitive fixed or variable rates.
NEA member perk: As an NEA member, you are eligible for a special 0.25% interest rate discount3, plus an additional 0.25% interest rate discount when you enroll in Auto Pay4.
4. The NEA Income Protection Insurance Plan. The NEA Income Protection Insurance Plan, underwritten by American Fidelity Assurance Company, helps replace a portion of your paycheck by providing a monthly benefit—often tax free—when you’re disabled or partially disabled by covered accidents or illnesses. The disability income insurance plan also pays benefits during pregnancy, when your doctor puts you on bed rest or medical leave, which can be tax-free depending on whether premiums are paid before or after taxes are taken from your paycheck.
NEA member perk: The disability income insurance plan also pays your NEA dues and waives your premiums when you’re disabled for six months or longer. Premiums are also waived during NEA-supported strikes.
5. The NEA Auto & Home Insurance Program. The NEA Auto & Home Insurance Program makes sure you’re protected.
6. The NEA Retirement Program. It’s never too early or too late to plan for retirement. Get support from start to finish with free educational resources, planning tools and savings solutions built with educators in mind.
With the Five-Minute Retirement Checkup, you can answer just a few questions to receive a retirement savings snapshot that will lead you to the planning resources you need.
For a more in-depth assessment, gather basic financial information, sign in to neamb.com and visit the NEA Retirement Income Calculator. Built for NEA members, this calculator includes state pension data so you can use it in your retirement projections. Experiment with different scenarios to see how changes can impact your plans.
The NEA Retirement Program5 offers a suite of investment products to help you save because retirement preparation isn’t “one size fits all.” Whether you’re in the early, mid or late phases of your career (or even already in retirement), you can explore our online investing tools or partner with a financial professional to help you build the retirement you’re dreaming of.
Through the Representative Locator, you can find a local expert who can offer guidance about retirement savings opportunities and conduct an annual review to track your progress. At our free member education workshops, you’ll learn about your state pension plan, the benefits of contributing—and saving—with a 403(b) or 457 plan, and other key concepts that can help you better prepare for retirement.
NEA member perk: Each month, you can download your free issue of the Kiplinger’s Retirement Report. We cover the $40 annual subscription fee, at no cost to you.
NOTE: Information in this article is accurate as of January 2023
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1 The NEA Personal Loan cannot be used to pay postsecondary educational expenses or tuition or to consolidate postsecondary loans.
2 NEA members may receive a 0.25% interest rate discount by enrolling in AutoPay. To qualify, you must set up automatic payments from a checking or savings account at the time of loan origination.
3 NEA members receive a 0.25% interest rate reduction on Undergraduate loans that are opened through the NEA Member Benefits portal. The NEA member discount will be applied to your loan account after the initial disbursement occurs.
4 The 0.25% auto-pay interest rate reduction applies as long as a valid bank account is designated for required monthly payments. Variable rates may increase after consummation.
5 The NEA Retirement Program (“NEA Program”) provides investment products for retirement plans sponsored by school districts and other employers of NEA members and individual retirement accounts established by NEA members. Security Distributors and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “Security Benefit”) make these products available to plans and accounts pursuant to an agreement with NEA Member Benefits (“MB”), which markets the NEA Program. NEA and MB are not affiliated with Security Benefit. Neither NEA nor MB is a registered broker/dealer. All securities brokerage services are performed exclusively by the local sales representative's broker/dealer and not by NEA or MB. NEA Retirement Specialists, when making recommendations to an NEA member, offer only Security Benefit products.
