Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

There may be a slightly silver lining to the murky clouds of health care reform: ancillary benefits, which often include voluntary benefits, are expected to grow substantially in the coming years. Advisers may do well to leverage these offerings with clients, says EBA Blogger and UBA CEO Thom Mangan.

Guest blogger Chris McSwain of Walmart writes that in the constantly evolving field of health and productivity, we are overwhelmed with new tools to judge the performance of our health-related programs. But sometimes the right tool is the one that's easier to use.

In recent years, voluntary benefits have risen from a nice-to-have for employees to something that is quickly becoming crucial. Doug Mantz looks back at the evolution of voluntary benefits through the lens of one long-time client.

With two daughters in college, The Principal Financial's Aaron Friedman has come to appreciate that the three “R’s” continue into higher education. The traditional readin’, ‘rightin’, and ‘rithmatic, carry forward, but he's realized lately that a fourth “R” applies — an evolution with private higher ed in “R”etirement planning.

Thom Mangan says we need to change the conversation with employers to underscore the value we bring them outside of carrier negotiation. Consider educating prospective clients about your key advantages and packaging (and pricing) your services accordingly with these six ideas.

Many 401(k) plan financial professionals have already capitalized on the opportunity in the 403(b) market by leveraging their 401(k) plan skills, and being able to distinguish themselves by being savvy in the dynamics that make a 403(b) plan a little different, says guest blogger Aaron Friedman of The Principal Financial.

PPACA takes us back to the future, says blogger Mark Gaunya. Rewind the tape and go back to 1978 when cafeteria plans were born, then fast forward the tape to 2013 and apply state-of-the-art technology. What do you have? An electronic cafeteria plan we now call an insurance exchange or marketplace if we want to be politically correct.

Kids are no strangers to accidents. No matter how it happens or where students are hurt on school property, schools are liable for the cost of student injuries and need to be prepared for these sometimes devastating expenses. This presents an opening for brokers, says EBA blogger Sam Fleet.

The Principal Financials’ Aaron Friedman says we are seeing 403(b) plan sponsors interested in reviewing their plan designs as they look to further clean up initial steps that were taken just a few years ago. This additional work is based on their own experience with compliance under the final regulations, as well as the administrative lessons they’ve learned.

The industry has gone through an evolution in the way it delivers services to clients, the way businesses operate and the state of the competitive market. At some point in there, value added services became all the rage. But now we have a problem, says EBA Blogger Wendy Keneipp.