Practice management

MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer, raised its dividend 49% in the first increase since 2007, after its exit from banking limited oversight from the Federal Reserve. The company gained the most since January in New York trading.

The legacy of Steve Jobs and the success of Apple can teach advisers a whole lot, according to David Patchen of Raymond James, a financial advising firm.

A program airing yesterday cited excessive fees and lack of clear guidance for the failure of the 401(k) to prepare Americans for a longer and more costly retirement.

After small group reform passed California ten years ago, brokers feared the worse, says blogger Andrew Torelli. What lessons can that bill teach us what to expect with the ACA?

Although it is highly unlikely that the Affordable Care Act will be overturned in the halls of Congress, that does not mean the fight is over, Bobby Bramlett, Big "I" chairman told a crowd of nearly 1,000 independent agents in Washington on Friday.

All consumer assistance programs need to “stop being enemies with each other,” National Association of Health Underwriters’ CEO Janet Trautwein insisted after a panel discussion at the Kaiser Family Foundation Thursday in Washington.

As a creator of financial websites I am often asked, “What SEO can I do myself as an adviser?” Here are some great tips that will help your website rise to the top of the heap in search engine optimization.

Congressman Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) spoke Wednesday to Independent Insurance Agents& Brokers of America at the organization’s legislative luncheon.

Left unchecked, Republicans say, Obama’s “entitlement society” will bankrupt the nation. “’Entitlement used to be a fairly positive thing,” says one historian. Until ACA, that is, and other more recent events.

Job growth for financial advisers stands around 32%, nearly double the national outlook.

A cap that President Barack Obama has proposed on the size of tax-advantaged retirement accounts is seen as potentially pushing savers to another product that limits payments to the government: life insurance.

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.

Social media relationships deserve your personal attention. Start keeping track of the people you connect with online.

American International Group Inc. and the U.S. asked a judge to dismiss claims in a lawsuit by former AIG Chief Executive Officer Maurice “Hank” Greenberg challenging the government’s bailout.

Employers are still figuring out how to work with PPACA in the next nine months. That was the consensus during a panel at the 10th World Health Care Congress Monday in National Harbor, Md.

Lincoln National Corp. was among U.S. life insurers that declined as bond yields fell after employers added fewer jobs than forecast.

Want proof that advisers need to be engaging with social media? Consider the SEC’s decision last week to let publicly traded companies make material corporate announcements on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed yesterday, following the release of proposed rules on Navigators and what they’re calling non-Navigator assistance personnel, that the information is not necessarily intended for brokers

Humana Inc. led medical insurers higher in trading today after the U.S. government reversed a decision to cut a key Medicare payment rate, offering them an increase instead.

When it comes to the public health exchanges, the broker experience may vary drastically from state to state. For example, while Maryland officials say they plan to communicate certification timing to brokers this month for their state exchange, HHS says it will happen sometime between now and August.