For the umpteenth time this year, I got a call last night from someone who is trying to track down my ex father-in-law. The call came in on my business fax line (does anyone else even have a designated fax line anymore?) at 8:30 pm, and since my office is conveniently located 10 ft. away from my living room, I answered the call. Continue reading “Nuisance Calls at Work”
It’s open enrollment season, and many employees are making the key decisions that will impact both their health coverage and tax situation for 2012. Commonly, employees are seeing higher deductibles and co-pays, but are still not maximizing their ability to, not only cover this exposure, but to also shelter some of their income from taxes by utilizing an FSA or HSA. Continue reading “Open Enrollment: A Tale of a Lost Opportunity”
Employee Benefit News’ Benefits Forum and Expo is the largest event in the nation solely dedicated to employee benefits, so are you planning on attending? If so, you’ll be among many senior benefits professionals who will be traveling to Dallas, TX next week. I won’t be there myself, but make sure to look for the Financial Wellness at Work track on the conference agenda, which kicks off the day on Sunday, September 25th. Continue reading “Roll Call: 24th Annual Benefits Forum and Expo 9/25 to 9/27”
It’s that time of year again. Summer is coming to an end (already!) and college classes are starting. You know what that means for your employees that are parents – time to start writing those checks!
Unfortunately, sometimes those checks have nowhere else to come from but their retirement accounts. If you handle the day to day administration of your retirement plan, do you notice an uptick in hardship withdrawal and loan requests around this time of year? If so, these looming college costs could be the culprit. According to the College Board, the average tuition this year is almost $8,000 for an in-state public university, and that doesn’t even include room and board, books, and other typical costs. Continue reading “Back to School Season Brings Tuition Bills to Your Employees”
Last month, my in-laws came along for a weekend trip to Florida, and it gave me a very small taste of what many caregivers experience on a daily basis. My father-in-law (Gene), who is in his early 70s, has diabetes, heart problems, and is severely overweight and because of these ailments, he has dietary limitations and needs help getting dressed and putting his shoes on. To give my mother-in-law a break that weekend, we took her “off-duty” and my husband and I soon came to realize why she has been under so much stress lately. Continue reading “Eldercare’s Impact on the Workforce: The Hidden Cost of Caregiving”
Over the last month, most of my working hours have been spent talking to people about the reality of deciding, in a short time window, if they are going to retire in the next several months. Why? These people have all been offered an early retirement incentive package with a deadline for accepting or rejecting the offer. This meant that, for them, retirement was no longer something that was “out there in the future.” It became a “right here, right now” opportunity. There were things I learned during that process, and over the next 2 weeks I’ll talk about the “universal” factors. Each person had their own story, their own situation, and their own set of circumstances that was remarkably different than anyone else’s. But, there were some factors that were important to every single person I met. They all asked about several factors that would impact the rest of their lives. Here are the first few factors (more to come next week): Continue reading “Things to Consider if You Were Offered an Early Retirement Incentive Package”
I recently met with a multitude of pre-retirees for individual consultations who were contemplating an early retirement deal, so naturally part of the analysis revolved around their pension. I was stunned at the amount of employees who, up until our in person meeting, had never gone online to run a pension estimate. Of those who had already run their estimate, quite a few were still unclear about the various payout options and how to go about making the decision on which payout best fit their own situation. The most common question I got was, “What do most employees pick?” Although I was very tempted to bring up the old adage mom used to say that, “if everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do that, too?” I resisted, and instead, I stressed to them that it was a personal decision based on their own unique situation. Here are the points I had the employees consider: Continue reading “Making the Decision: Which Pension Payout Option is Best?”
Over the last month, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of people who are contemplating retirement right now. And I’ve noticed a common theme. More people, than might be expected, really like their job and the people they work with, and they have a difficult time wrestling with the emotions of making the retirement decision. A little background to this story might help. Continue reading “Real Life Cases of Money Isn’t Everything”
With the recent roller coaster ride of the stock market, many employees have taken a closer look at their asset allocation within their retirement plans, and to the surprise of many, they find their investment strategy is way off base. Continue reading “You Have HOW MUCH of Your 401(k) in Company Stock?”
Our insurance agent delivered the bad news last week – the company’s health insurance premiums are going up 19% next year. To curb this huge cost increase, we either have to look at increasing the deductible or increasing the premium burden on our employees. Because of Healthcare Reform, this will be a common scenario that many employers will face over the next few years. Because of the new economic realities of escalating healthcare costs and an aging population (a few of my co-workers hit milestone birthdays that pushed them into the next higher age bracket), we’ve come to realize that balancing business costs and benefits needs is not just about spending more, it is about spending differently. Continue reading “Benefits Trends: Looking Ahead to the Future”
Over the last 5 years, there has been great progress in the employee benefits arena for new employees entering the workforce. Auto enrollment into a DC retirement plan has increased from 32% back in 2007 to 41% in 2011. The number of companies offering the Roth 401(k) option has doubled since 2007, from 16% to 31%, and this feature usually is most beneficial to the younger workforce who most certainly may face higher tax brackets in the future. And for those companies that offer high deductible health plans, 1 in 5 now offer an employer contribution, up from only 1 in 10 in 2007. These are all positive movements highlighted in the 2011 SHRM Employee Benefits Study when looking back at the trends from 2007 to today. Continue reading “Benefits Trends: Looking Back the Past 5 Years”
I was traveling last week, cross-country, to facilitate a retirement preparedness workshop, so to fill the 2 hour layover I had at the airport, I found some interesting reading material from the Society of Human Resources Professionals (SHRM) on a report on their 2011 Employee Benefits Study. Here are some common benefits: Continue reading “Employee Benefits: How to Be a Cut Above the Rest”
Do you have a population of employees that are still on the sidelines regarding participating in your retirement plan? According to a recent study by Aon Hewitt, 76% of eligible employees participated in their company’s DC plan in 2010, which means that almost 1 in 4 employees ARE NOT participating! It just amazes me that even with the popularity of auto enrollment, there are still so many employees not taking advantage of saving for retirement. Continue reading “Retirement Plan Enrollment: How to Get More Employees in the Game”
I recently talked to a co-worker who wasn’t very happy about our health insurance plan. I was surprised because I love it. It turns out that she just didn’t understand how it worked. We have a high-deductible plan with a health savings account (HSA), a relatively new type of plan that’s likely to become more common as traditional insurance premiums continue increasing. Continue reading “Why I Love My HSA (and You Should Too)”
For the final installment of my four-part series, I want to focus on the last of the four key reasons why employers do not prioritize benefits education, even though the majority of employers are very eager to increase employee satisfaction with their benefits package. These four reasons are: Continue reading “Obstacles to Benefits Communications”
As part of my four-part series, I’ve been exploring what I see as the four key reasons why employers do not prioritize benefits education, even though the majority of employers are very eager to increase employee satisfaction with their benefits package. These four reasons are: Continue reading “Obstacles to Benefits Communications”
401(k)s have gotten some negative press due to the market downturn during the recession, which took a big toll financially on many employees. Even so, as someone who has dedicated my whole working life to retirement planning, specifically to the 401(k), I wanted to share six important points on why 401(k) are still a better vehicle for saving for retirement.
This month, I’ve been explaining the four key reasons that I have discovered on why employers do not prioritize benefits education, even though the majority of employers are very eager to increase employee satisfaction with their benefits package. These four reasons are: Continue reading “Obstacles to Benefits Communications”
Last week I wrote about a recent study that revealed a decline in employee perception of the value and satisfaction level of employer-provided benefits. Over the next month, I will explore the four key reasons that I have discovered on why employers do not prioritize benefits education, even though the majority of employers are very eager to increase employee satisfaction with their benefits package. The four reasons are: Continue reading “Obstacles to Benefits Communications – Part 1”
According to a recent study by Prudential, many employees’ perceived value and satisfaction with their benefits is declining. Based on the fifth annual Study of Employee Benefits: Today and Beyond, 45% of plan participants who were polled stated that their level of benefits has decreased this year, and only 38% think their employer offers a wide range of benefits (down from 55% in 2007). Specifically, employees feel they are receiving fewer benefits from their companies and paying more for the ones that are being offered. Continue reading “Are Employees Feeling Dis-satisfied with Their Benefits?”
