The majority of employers want to prepare employees for a financially secure retirement, but have found educational campaigns unlikely to result in substantial changes in behavior. Employers walk a fine line when they implement automatic features; some argue that they enable lax saving habits and investment ignorance by funneling participants into plans automatically. On the other hand, Steve Utkus, director of Vanguard's Center for Retirement Research, recommends that employers use "participant inertia to their benefit and do it exclusively with plan design."

For Matt Thomas, who has worked with professional employer organizations since graduating college, consumer-driven health plans are the way of the future, becoming even more widespread as education efforts increase.

If you watch "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," you know a lot goes into building a house. The ABC show often goes beyond standard building practices as they assemble designers, construction crews and volunteers to create a family's dream home. Their blueprint for success is careful planning and coordination from the initial site preparation to the final inspection.

Hundreds of National Association of Health Underwriters members attending the organization's 81st annual convention June 26-29 were treated to a round of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey as the convention kicked off in San Antonio - setting the stage for the positive outlook promoted by NAHU throughout the event.

If there's one thing we're constantly striving for here at EBA it's an ever-strengthening connection to you, our audience of employee benefit professionals. We're finding more ways to interact with you in person, whether it's at this month's Workplace Benefits Mania in Chicago or at the 6th Annual Employee Benefit Adviser Summit in Dallas, September 25-27. We hope to see you there!

My practice as an ERISA attorney is devoted to working with financial advisers to help their retirement plan clients reduce their administrative cost, minimize their fiduciary liability, and maximize retirement savings at a flat fee.

McKinsey & Co. caused quite a stir not only around the insurance world, when it recently revealed that 30% of employers will “definitely or probably” drop their coverage when PPACA takes effect in 2014. While the exact percentage of employers keeping or dropping their coverage in three years remains to be seen, voluntary programs will be valuable to employers and employees alike in either situation.

Waitress Edna and blogger Mike Loncono’s father, a car salesman, had one thing in common — they were plugged in at any task level or job description. Are you?

Here’s a recent list of personnel accomplishments in the insurance industry.

Financial planners become successful through a fierce commitment to building their practices. But too few principals proactively plan for when — and how — they will one move on. In failing to do so, they run the risk of leaving their firms on someone else’s terms, says Scott Slater, managing director, business consulting, for Schwab Advisor Services. “And that’s somewhat ironic,” he says, “because they are planners.”

Americans are slowly shifting toward buying insurance direct rather than meeting with an insurance professional face-to-face. More than one in four adults prefer to purchase life insurance online, over the phone or through the mail, according to a New LIFE and LIMRA study released Wednesday.

Rural Americans are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart problems and cancer, and face greater difficulty getting quality health care than their urban counterparts, according to a report released Wednesday.

The majority of Generation X and Y policy owners and almost half of Boomer policy owners who have visited their life company’s website sought online services from their insurers, according to LIMRA. “With Internet usage growing almost 150% in the last decade, it is vital that companies understand who their online audience is and what their expectations are and develop a website that offers the important services that these customers say they want,” says Mary Art, LIMRA research director, technology in marketing and distribution research.

Advisers are more confident than they have been since January, but they still report being concerned over the disconnect in the marketplace, according to The Advisor Confidence Index, a benchmark that gauges adviser views on the U.S. economy and stock market.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is nearly ready to issue a proposed rule requiring health insurers to develop standardized, consumer-friendly summaries of benefits and coverage under their health plan packages.

Louisiana Sen. Mary L. Landrieu urges Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to remove agent compensation from the medical loss ratio rule.

A new bill introduced in the Senate last week could help consumers keep their employer-sponsored flexible spending account funds at the end of the year.

Rates for cybersecurity insurance edged lower in the last few months despite surging demand, as heavy competition brewed among insurers rushing into the market in search of the next profitable product, insurance brokers Marsh said on Wednesday.

Here’s a recent list of personnel accomplishments in the insurance industry.

I read your Movers & Shakers piece in the July 2011 EBA (“Maryland exchange provides brokers a link to prospects,” p.64). Unfortunately, while the interview with the developers of VIRTUAL COMPARE put a very positive spin on their product, your piece didn't really explore the product objectively.