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One skill that epitomizes the successful benefit adviser is selling. From the dollar-and-cents results to the art of persuasion, benefit advisers understand the sales process. So why not use that skill to assist human resource professionals in selling their C-suite on a corporate wellness program?

Benefits administrators have an important role in informing employees of coverage offerings and how multiple benefits can work together. But oftentimes, especially in these days of employer cutbacks and cost-saving measures, that role falls to the employee benefit broker or adviser.

Employers nationwide - both big and small - are watching and waiting to see whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's state exchanges will succeed when they open for business in 2014. Small employers and those with low-paid or part-time employees are especially interested in finding out whether funneling their employees into an exchange or finding coverage for them through one would be beneficial.

At Rood & Dax Advanced Insurance Services in Sacramento, Laurie Rood and partner Gayle Dax approach client wellness plans by creating a comprehensive culture that uses both technology and personal interaction to foster a healthier, happier workplace. "Especially nowadays when people aren't willing to pay a lot of money for things, we have set a lot of our clients up with the idea that they are creating a wellness culture in which to operate to keep their employees happy and healthy and wanting to come to work," says Dax.

It wasn't long after Rick McKinley got his start as a benefits broker that he encountered one of his biggest frustrations in the business: data overload.

Our industry is in a state of massive flux. With regulatory and economic challenges constantly bearing down, agency leaders and advisers are anxiously searching for solutions to current problems as well as those that are swiftly approaching.

Congratulations to long-time EBA columnists Mel Schlesinger and Jack Kwicien, who are assuming important leadership posts in the field.

When it comes to addressing end-of-life needs and services, most people know it's important to plan ahead, but many put it off because they would rather not have to think about the topic. It's the aim of companies such as Everest and Hyatt Legal Plans to make those necessary preparations and subsequent requirements as simple and beneficial as possible.

Retirement planning is an important issue, but according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study, many workers remain more concerned about making ends meet.

Over the 25 years that I've spent consulting with plan sponsors about their 401(k) retirement plans, I've noticed that the best plans have all or most of these seven attributes: