Time to Invest in You: Ways to Make Your Retirement a Reality

By Rachel Barrow, AVP Marketing, Individual Markets, Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America® Dreaming about retirement may bring to mind relaxation, travel, and leisure time. Many people find, though, that planning for it can be stressful – but it doesn’t have to be that way. If open enrollment time has you thinking about how you’ll fund your retirement,…

Why relying on SSDI is better than nothing, but far from optimal

By Ted Norwood, General Counsel and Director of Representation, Integrated Benefits, Inc. According to the Council for Disability Awareness, half of those who don’t work for the government have some form of employer-paid disability insurance (short-term disability only, long-term disability only, or both STD and LTD). These benefits are important because 25 percent of today’s 20-year-olds…

When you hear the term ‘underinsurance,’ do you understand what it means?

By Bob Herum, Second Vice President, DI & GSI Sales, Ameritas I picture the millions of working Americans who are employed, receive benefits through their employers, and yet, go about their daily activities without realizing the potential financial risk to their way of life. Specifically, I’m thinking of their income and what insurance they may have…

What happens when a health event causes your income stream to run dry?

By Fred Schott, Director of Operations, Council for Disability Awareness If you’re one of the millions of working Americans currently making decisions about your employee benefits choices for the coming year, you’ve probably put most of your focus on the health-plan options, including what is or isn’t covered, which providers are or aren’t in-network, and…

How disability insurance can be part of your paid leave and absence management strategy

By Marjory Robertson, AVP & Senior Counsel and Abigail O’Connell, Senior Counsel, Sun Life Financial When employees need to step away from work — whether to welcome a new child, care for a family member, or another life event — protecting their jobs and benefits, understanding their rights, knowing whether their employers will pay part…

Beyond medical: How supplemental benefits help attract and retain talent

By Phil Bruen, Vice President, Group Life and Disability Products, MetLife As the annual enrollment period takes place in workplaces around the United States, human resources teams and employees have benefits on their minds. During this time, it’s important for employers to educate their workforces on how the benefits they provide can help workers achieve…

Why do some insurance policies still use pre-existing conditions?

  By Larry Alkire, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, American Fidelity Assurance Company When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), the term—”pre-existing conditions”—became a household word. The ACA prevented health insurance carriers from denying you coverage, charging you more money, or refusing to pay for essential health benefits for any…

7 ways to keep employee benefits top of mind

HR works hard to find the best benefits program for employees and then communicate the “benefits of the benefits,” so to speak. But sometimes, even with the best of intentions, the information falls on deaf ears – or blind eyes. In fact, one recent study found that less than half of employees know what benefits…

What’s considered a disability? 10 causes every HR leader should know

When most people consider disability, they picture something catastrophic happening—an ill-timed dive off a high rock, or a speeding car hurtling into theirs—and, for the most part assume it can never happen to them. That’s why human resources experts often find it challenging to convince their employees of the importance of disability insurance even though…

Picture of woman with words: How does disability insurance actually work?

How Does Disability Insurance Actually Work?

Disability insurance provides critical financial protection that is very different from other insurance products. Millions of working Americans don’t have it, and many don’t fully understand what it protects. A 2017 report from LIMRA revealed that 65 percent of respondents thought that most people need disability insurance. Yet only 48 percent thought they personally needed it, and a…