Month: November 2018

It’s easy to think of benefits as something strictly related to “big business”. Most small business owners think that offering benefits will be too costly and that they’ll eat into profits. Yet in a tight labor market, offering benefits can be a key differentiation in the battle to attract top talent. Reducing turnover rates and retaining staff members helps to create a more profitable business in the long-run and benefits are a cornerstone to this strategy.

The good news for small business owners is that benefits are available in many sizes and shapes. They can be custom tailored for a small office and they can be modified as a company grows. A good strategy is to build a benefits plan that will be attractive to the talent you want to hire and retain.

Popular benefits plans include:

• Dental Insurance
• Vision
• Life Insurance
• Pet Insurance
• Increased time for paid leave
• Short-term disability

The kinds of benefits advantages you can offer to your team are really unlimited. Finding the right combination of benefits is part of a well-constructed benefits strategy… something an independent insurance agency can help with.

A Note on Compliance and Oversight .

Managing a benefits plan requires paying attention to potential IRS and Department of Labor guidelines and requirements to ensure your benefits plan remains fully qualified. Working with a benefits specialist will help you avoid unwanted entanglements. For more information and insights on constructing a solid benefits plan, reach out to us. We’ll be happy to help!

Disability insurance is a type of protection that pays a part of an individual’s earnings in case of disability. 65% of benefits advisors strongly suggest disability insurance for a company’s staff members. Of a recently polled set of companies, only 20% in fact carried disability insurance leaving the vast majority at-risk.

The annual benefits open season is here. Disability insurance may be something worth offering to employees as an added safety net. With one of the tightest job markets in recent years, offering this kind of benefit can make your business more competitive.

While less glamorous that other benefits, disability insurance is often considered a lifesaver by those who have to tap into it.

Specific policy protection will differ depending on the insurance provider and the nature of your business. Lots of long-term disability insurance policies have a waiting period prior to taking effect, in some cases approximately six months. For protection during this duration, short-term disability policies fill the space. A broken arm or disease can impact weeks or months of work and earnings. Cancers and musculoskeletal conditions can last years. The majority of people lack the savings to support themselves during such absences.

According to the Social Security Administration, 25% of those entering the labor force will be handicapped previous to reaching retirement. A 2015 survey by the Federal Reserve Board discovered nearly half of Americans do not have emergency savings. Asked about a hypothetical $400 emergency room expense, 46% of those surveyed claimed they would be unable to pay that bill. When combined with work missed due to severe injury or illness, the results are catastrophic without adequate protection.

A growing variety of businesses include disability insurance as part of their benefits packages. For workers paying their own premium, the cost is typically budget-friendly with yearly costs as low as $250-$300.

For additional information on disability insurance and other benefits options, please contact us today.