I’ve been out to a number of clients who don’t have a benefit plan. There are some business owners that I’ve met that are attempting to self-manage their own benefit plan. They see that it’s a necessary step to help attract and retain employees. Introducing a benefit plan helps to legitimize the company in the eyes of employees, suppliers and … Read More
Why is it Good to be Disruptive in the Employee Benefits Industry?
By definition, Disruptive means “causing or tending to cause disruption”, but in business, it generally refers to “innovative or groundbreaking”. My 15-year son being disruptive in his classroom is not encouraged, but it takes guts to be a trailblazer in the business world. Also, if you’re successful, then the masses will follow. Who Said a Tiger Can’t Change Its Stripes? … Read More
Are You One of the 65% of Business Owners Making This Financial Mistake?
I talk to at least a dozen business owners a week. The crux of our conversations is around how they may want to look at the finances within their businesses a little differently. It could be about items that could be legitimately expensed but aren’t, getting money out of their businesses tax effectively, how they can use their business to … Read More
5 Questions Every Business Owner Needs To Ask When Selecting an Employee Benefit Company
If you’ve been tasked to investigate setting up a new employee benefit plan for your company, you will be overwhelmed by options. The process can be daunting, and the consequences can be dire. Most benefit consultants will push you towards an Insured plan, but you have options. There are many more questions to ask when implementing a benefit plan, but … Read More
What are the 9 Obvious Signs You Should Be Firing Your Benefits Advisor?
It ceases to amaze me that in this day and age that some benefit advisors still have clients or are holding onto their clients using the same approach that they’ve used for the past decade or longer. So when is it that you should look at changing benefit advisors? A case in point. I had a meeting with a new … Read More
Can We Talk About Benefit Advisor Fee Transparency for a Minute?
I get it that doing the right thing doesn’t always yield you the largest compensation, but it will yield you dividends for years down the road. In the benefits industry, the income of brokers comes largely from annuity business. Keeping your customer happy doesn’t always mean making your windfall today. That’s why it’s important to understand about doing the right … Read More
Is Your Benefits Advisor Performing these 11 Key Roles for You?
I experienced something in the last few days that embarrassed me as a Benefits Advisor. As much as there are many credible professionals within the benefits business, there are more than our fair share of brokers/advisors that are greedy, lazy and bring no value to their clients. Like in any industry, there will always be a few bad eggs. So … Read More