The CHEA credential can be provided completely to NAIFA members by an eight-hour program of educational analysis, case research and fiduciary-aligned planning frameworks. The partnership is in search of to deal with a “long-standing hole in traditional financial education that usually overlooks dwelling fairness as a retirement asset.”
Fairway and NAIFA developed this system collectively and can use licensed reverse mortgage specialists as academics. The purpose is to make extra debtors conscious of reverse mortgages as a possible monetary software however not essentially to extend product gross sales.
Those that full this system earn the CHEA designation, together with entry to knowledgeable toolkit of shopper schooling assets and extra.
“This program is about schooling, not origination,” George Bain, Fairway’s vice chairman of reverse lending initiatives, mentioned in an announcement. “Our purpose is to assist advisors higher perceive how housing wealth suits into retirement planning conversations, whereas sustaining the very best requirements of compliance, ethics, and consumer protection.”
“Housing wealth is without doubt one of the largest and most underutilized belongings in retirement planning,” mentioned John Wheeler, NAIFA’s president-elect. “The CHEA credential reinforces NAIFA’s dedication to moral, client-first schooling by equipping our members with the data and confidence to deal with this asset responsibly and collaboratively.”
The course is being launched nearly and is initially obtainable to NAIFA members in Colorado, with extra states being added through the first half of 2026. These in Colorado can register online for a pair of four-hour classes which are scheduled for March 17 and 19.
“The CHEA credential displays rising trade recognition that retirement planning should evolve alongside demographic and financial realities, together with longevity danger, market volatility, and rising healthcare prices,” mentioned Brendan Bernat, senior director of credentials for NAIFA.
Fairway is a full-service nationwide mortgage lender that does enterprise throughout the ahead and reverse channels. It was the sixth-largest originator of Residence Fairness Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) through the 12 months ending in January 2026, in keeping with knowledge compiled by New View Advisors, endorsing 1,009 HECMs for a 3.8% market share.
