Practice and client management

Employers continue to look to their adviser to guide them through health care reform uncertainty. In fact, 88% expect their adviser to educate them on health care reform and its implications, according to a recent survey.

The final ruling for the insurance exchange portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is out. The 644-page rule mandates that all 50 states must be ready with an exchange by October 2013. “So far, there are only about 20 states making measurable progress toward the deadline,” says Bob Laszewiski of Health Policy Strategy Associates, LLC. “Most conservative states – 29 states have Republican governors – are sitting on the sidelines waiting to…

Brokers play a key role in helping plan sponsors establish a healthier workplace, but one main problem still affects employers today — dealing with the lack of resources that are available to improve employee health and productivity at the workplace, according to a white paper from The Standard.

Every brokerage sells in the small group market. The reason is simple: That's where most of the group business resides.

Agents are missing a huge sales opportunity with group term life insurance. Most of you think that you actually sell group term life insurance - but you are 100% wrong! You may take orders for group term, but when was the last time that you encouraged an employer to offer group term life where none existed before? Or you initiated a conversation with an employer about voluntary group term life insurance?

Within 30 minutes of being contacted, insurance agent Dal Watson had already added this reporter on most of his social media sites - Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter. And doing so with clients has brought him and other brokers who are on social media increased business, better reputations and stronger connections.

As the challenges mount for benefit advisers to prove their value to clients, one of the main questions I think we should consider is can we help HR? And if so, how? What are the solutions that help HR be more effective to their organizations? Is it possible that benefit advisers might be able to help HR have a more strategic seat at the table?

With the Supreme Court tackling constitutional challenges to the Affordable Care Act during oral arguments March 26-28, the Kaiser Family Foundation has published a 10-page primer of the issues and arguments before the court.

Advisers should be aware of big changes coming to all Facebook’s brand pages soon. On March 30, ready or not, all pages will be converted automatically to Facebook’s new Timeline format. Until then, firms can experiment with the new design before publishing the page, but the deadline is looming.

Tough times have employees placing greater reliance on benefits for financial security, as employers affirm their commitment to sponsoring those benefits albeit with increased cost sharing.

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Friday it will release audio recordings and transcripts of oral arguments in the health care challenge immediately after the March 26-28 sessions, responding to what it called "extraordinary public interest."

Let's look at the use of power for selling and properly managing a sales staff. We are definitely talking about transformational leadership with these two applications.Leadership is the use of power and influence to direct the actions of followers toward others to goal achievement. I define power as the ability to influence the behavior of others and resist unwanted influence in return. The existence of either or both does not, however, mean that you will be able influence anyone. That is where the strength of the leader comes in.

Over the last two months I have discussed the use of video and article marketing in growing your business. This month, I am going to focus on public speaking, which is a great complement to the work that you have done during the past two months.

Two years after President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, the U.S. Supreme Court this month will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the individual mandate that requires all individuals who can afford it to buy health insurance. The Court will also determine whether the Medicaid expansion is constitutional, which may affect employers with retiree health care plans. The majority of employers, however, are attuned to the Court's decision on the individual mandate and how much of the law will survive if that provision is found unconstitutional. Whatever the Supreme Court ultimately decides in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, here EBA outlines each potential ruling concerning the constitutionality of the individual mandate and how it affects plan sponsors and advisers alike.

More than a third of Americans say they most trust financial advisers to better understand retirement issues, according to a new survey.

Despite evidence that younger investors are well-positioned to benefit from long-term retirement savings less than half (45%) plan to contribute to an Individual Retirement Account for the 2011 tax year, according to research.

A growing number of younger participants in 401(k) retirement plans are investing in target-date funds, according to a recent analysis. Using data from the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database, Employee Benefit Research Institute finds that the percentage of recently hired 401(k) participants with two or fewer years of tenure holding TDFs jumped from 43.6% in 2008 to 46.6% in 2009 increasing slightly to 47.6% in 2010. …

Common sense seems to be in short supply these days, especially when it comes to application of the rules under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Here’s a case in point: we’ve heard that some accountants have made the Act’s so-called Cadillac Tax a focus point of their current accounting protocol for retiree health plans. …

Almost all employees who participate in one-on-one benefits counseling sessions during enrollment say they have a greater understanding of their employer-sponsored benefits.

Employer-sponsored plans — especially 401(k)s — help employees at the lower end of the wage scale to save.