Voluntary benefits

Consumers are likely to turn to their spouses, co-workers and parents for help with benefits decisions – in part because those decisions can affect them, too, and in part because those are the people to whom they most relate.

These plans hold appeal in an unpredictable economy but must be well-designed to avoid employee dissatisfaction.

Altered by the ACA, limited medical plans may actually increase in popularity for some workers.

Just 38% of parents said they’re extremely comfortable talking about insurance, while 55% are fine discussing the intoxicants, according to a survey released today by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

Concerns about finances, fears of unexpected death and more make this ethnic group a potential target for advisers.

A new poll shows a large gap between the amount of life insurance necessary and what consumers think they have.

Employee discount programs remain popular, but with a caveat.

Find out how these plans can be helpful to employers and also lead to potentially bigger voluntary conversations.

Veterinary costs are on the rise, making pet insurance more valuable to employees.

Although well-known benefits, auto and home insurance need a workplace boost.

Altered by the ACA, limited medical plans may actually increase in popularity for some workers.

The results for selling voluntary have been ‘pathetic’ recently, says EBA Columnist Nelson Griswold, who shares how to overcome that.

Despite changes to group benefits, many agents are wary of selling voluntary - here's why they should reconsider.

Supplemental disability income plans are so mainstream today they're thought of as plain vanilla. That’s all well and good until the other shoe falls. And it often does. When employers experience problems with existing voluntary disability plans, most of these issues can be traced back to when the plan was originally designed.

Americans collectively have millions of pets, but few are covered by insurance.

MetLife poll reveals employees view voluntary legal plans as easy to handle.

Nelson Griswold on using voluntary sales as back-door strategy.

PricewaterhouseCoopers released results of an employee financial wellness study this week and found that 36% of employees in the generation born in the early ’60s through early ’80s say they’re likely to tap into their retirement savings.

California is the only U.S. state where the cost of auto insurance decreased over two decades through 2010, according to a consumer group that attributes the decline to a law that gave regulators more control over rates.

New service from Pinnacle offers decision and treatment support to employees at the time of a serious illness diagnosis.