It’s a new year, a new beginning. We’re feeling refreshed after a season of holiday cheer and celebrating with family and friends. Maybe some of us ate and drank a little too much. And maybe we spent our entire year-end bonus on presents that the kids are already tired of playing with. But we all…
They certainly aren’t the bicycles your parents had hanging from the ceiling of your childhood home garage. Electric bikes are changing the way people get around town by eliminating some of the common hurdles associated with commuting by bike while adding health, efficiency, convenience, and fun to the journey. If you’re looking for ways to…
Is your office quiet that last week between Christmas and New Year’s? Chances are good it is; one survey found that 1/3 of U.S. workers planned to take the entire week as vacation, with nearly 70% expecting to take at least part of it. But while the rest of your office might be relaxing…
I am not a doctor. I didn’t even like science in school. What I am is a sixty-something guy who works in an office and has been highly skeptical of all diets – I think they’re fads – for my entire adult life. Diets all typically have a gimmick, may work for a while, but…
The start of a New Year—and decade!—is the perfect time to kick off or refresh HR-related programs. As company culture becomes more important than ever for employees, the payoff that comes from programs that meet their needs can be huge in terms of retention. Don’t forget that with the New Year comes resolutions—and for some…
The holidays are here. The season of giving, spending, celebration, and for many, the season of high calorie overeating. According to a 2016 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the average American gains about a pound between Thanksgiving and the beginning of January. Even though the weight gain isn’t as high as…
Long-term disability insurance. It’s not as immediate a need as health insurance, and you probably don’t think it works into your long-term financial plan as much as life insurance does. But it’s still really, really important. Long-term disability insurance is, at its core, income replacement. It can help you make ends meet when you’re unable…
Student loans and the increasing size of their associated debt continue to grab headlines. The ongoing political environment and upcoming presidential election is significantly increasing the discussion of various proposals and ideas. From a historical perspective student loans are certainly not new. The debt levels, however, are even more evident when you look at the…
As we head into the busy holiday season, two forces converge—one, some workplaces get extra busy, and two, everyone is craving time off for their own personal celebrations. Here are some suggestions for helping manage employee time off so that everyone feels that they have been treated fairly—or as fairly as possible. (Remember that these…
By Katie McCord Jenkins, President and Chairperson, Illinois Mutual. If you were to ask me what type of business my company is in, you might be surprised with my response: We are in the business of preserving dreams and enabling people to live fearlessly in a time when so many live paycheck to paycheck. Yes,…
