New Jersey families know the squeeze all too well. It shows up in the grocery bill, the property tax notice, and the growing sense that hardworking families are being priced out of the state they call home. I help families navigate this pressure with financial guidance and planning — but a new Department of Labor rule threatens my ability to continue this work.
Affordability is a true kitchen table issue — one I’ve actually sat at tables and discussed with my clients as their financial advisor. An AARP survey found that cost pressures are now pushing older New Jerseyans to seriously consider leaving the state they’ve spent a lifetime building. Behind stats like these is the lived reality of families trying to make ends meet while still planning for their children’s future, their parents’ care, and their own retirement.
The Risk: Stretched Families with Less Access to Financial Advice
This New Jersey DOL rule threatens my ability to support families with this planning as I’ve done for 42 years. Intended to strengthen worker protections, it fails to account for how insurance and financial advisors actually operate: we are licensed professionals who have chosen independence, not employees in need of reclassification.
That’s a real risk for New Jersey families. For over a century, our advisors have helped families navigate exactly these pressures: protecting a young couple’s income, guiding a small business owner’s succession plan, stretching a retiree’s fixed income to cover rising costs. Many of us are independent contractors by choice, not circumstance, building our businesses that way so we can work with flexibility, keep our services affordable, and be available whenever families need us. That independence is why so many New Jersey families can access personalized, affordable financial protection in the first place. With affordability, the top issue in the state, families can’t afford fewer options for the guidance that helps them absorb rising costs.
The Easy Fix
Fortunately, Governor Sherrill and the New Jersey Legislature have a straightforward fix on the table. A.1511 and S. 2782 would establish clear, unambiguous exceptions for insurance and financial advisors, ensuring they can continue operating as independent contractors without fear of misapplied enforcement. This isn’t a new or radical concept. It follows a model that other states, and New Jersey itself in other contexts, have already used to protect both worker choice and consumer access. The bill has moved forward with bipartisan support, clearing committee votes and advancing toward a full Assembly vote.
Lawmakers should finish the job. New Jerseyans navigating complex financial decisions, especially in an environment where every dollar counts, deserve continued access to independent, personalized guidance. Clients trust their advisors to act in their best interest, and that trust depends on advisors having the flexibility to serve clients the way they always have. Passing A.1511 and S. 2782 would protect that trust, preserve consumer choice, and ensure that one more source of relief isn’t taken away from New Jersey families at the exact moment they need it most. Governor Sherrill and the New Jersey Legislature should act now to pass and enact A.1511 and S. 2782 without delay and give New Jersey families the certainty they deserve.
Dennis Cuccinelli, financial advisor, Former NAIFA Trustee, and former president of NAIFA-NJ, is from Paramus, New Jersey.
