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In today’s competitive talent market, attracting and retaining top performers requires more than just a tempting salary. Enter the often-overlooked weapon in your arsenal: smartly designed benefits packages. While it might seem counterintuitive, investing in the right benefits can actually reduce your overall compensation costs. How? It’s all about strategic alignment with employee needs and…

What is a Health Savings Account? Health Savings Accounts (HSA) were created in 2003. They are special individual-owned accounts used to pay for current and future medical expenses. They are used with High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP). This is an insurance plan that does not cover first dollar medical expenses (except for preven- tive care).…

Let’s face it. If you’re in your 40’s or 50’s, it’s likely that the last thing you want to think about is planning for the possibility of needing long term care. Yet, some key findings of a survey done in 2013 by the Associated Press and the Non-partisan and Objective Research Organization (NORC) at the…

Do you know the best way for your company? There are a variety of mechanisms available to fund health insurance programs. Below is a summary of the basic concepts involved in each type of funding. Traditional Insurance The most familiar funding design is the “fully insured” plan. In this design the employer pays a premium…

A professional employer organization (PEO) enables small and mid-sized businesses to provide their employees with access to better, more affordable benefits, and to streamline many administrative HR functions—like payroll, benefits, compliance, and workers’ compensation. Typically, the PEO offering may include: Human resource consulting Safety and risk mitigation services Payroll processing Employer payroll tax filing Workers’ compensation…

Most employers tend to ignore tasks that are outside of their main business focus. While it is only human nature to put off doing things you dislike, it is not a good strategy for running a profitable business. It can be a particularly costly when it comes to your benefit programs – especially when you…

Most people think about retirement planning in terms of saving money so they can afford to retire. As a long-term care insurance specialist, my role is to protect that money when they do retire. And long-term care insurance is one way to do that. As you might imagine, my conversations with clients often delve into…

I realize this can be more work than the average business owner wants to do.  This is work that a good broker will do for you.  The question is how do you know what kind of broker you are working with?  There are plenty of financial planners that use benefits as a door opener to…

There are millions of healthcare plans renewing in January 2023.  About 60 days before this, employers will be notified of the new premiums for their benefit plan. In this series we will explore ideas employers can use to mitigate these increases. Cost Sharing For employers with 50 or more employees, the maximum employee contribution towards…

Every business owner cringes when he opens the bill for his company’s health insurance.   Each year the cost increases while he decreases the benefits to help rein in expenses.  It’s like watching a hamster running in a wheel.  Nothing changes – employers are frustrated, employees are disappointed, and costs keep increasing.  There are millions of…