Wellness Study Touts CFPs
Original post benefitspro.com
Only 22 percent of employees tracked in Financial Finesse’s 2015 year in review report being on track for retirement.
The provider of workplace financial wellness programs says that is a slight improvement from 2014. Of those that are not prepared, 81 percent have never used a financial calculator to estimate their retirement preparedness.
While the number of retirement-ready workers remains bleak, those participants who have repeated engagements with planning tools, and financial planners, are showing marked improvement in retirement readiness.
Enhancements in retirement workplace plan design, like auto-enrollment and auto-escalation, and technology that addresses asset allocation are vital tools for addressing workers’ retirement preparedness.
But the Financial Finesse’s data suggests those tools alone are not enough.
A good portion of the review is committed to comparing retirement readiness of those savers who engage in live interactions with financial planners.
About half of participants that had five or more interactions with a certified financial planner report being on track for retirement.
Levels of confidence drop in lock step with the number of interactions with financial planners: 32 percent of those with three to four interactions say they are on track to retire with adequate savings; 31 percent with one to two interactions believe as much; and only 21 participants who only interact with online planning tools say they are on track to retire with enough savings.
Interacting with CFPs also translates to higher confidence with investments and how they are allocated, as 64 percent of participants with five or more interactions say they are invested appropriately, compared to only 42 percent who use an online planning tool but don’t seek live financial advice.
Overall, retirement readiness is lacking across generations. Last year, only 30 percent of baby boomers say they are on track to reach their retirement goal, which was unchanged from the previous year.
Only 22 percent of Gen Xers and 16 percent of millennials said they are on track to retire well.
Debt is a major obstacle for boomers’ retirement readiness, the report says, as 42 percent of financially distressed boomers have no plan in place to pay off their debt, and increase from the previous year.
Participation rates in workplace retirement plans was high across all age groups, as even 73 percent of workers under age 30 report being enrolled in a plan; 91 percent of pre-retirees participate in their workplace plan.
Despite high rates of enrollment, financial planners and participants sited insufficient retirement savings as the top financial vulnerability for all age groups.
5 Trends Driving Change in Health Care
Original post benefitspro.com
All around the country, brokers ask where the industry is going.
They want to know if other states are seeing the same changes they are; and, of course, they want to know about the great solutions that are popping up elsewhere. We feel the sands shifting, and are looking for solid footing.
Here are five trends that I believe will drive much of the industry change in the future:
1. No end in sight for medical cost increases
Is this worthy of being prediction number one? Well, it's the driver of most of the other trends, so it's appropriate. While the good news is that the percentage increase is less than it was 10 years ago, it's still many times the rate of inflation. And the “compounding interest” plays out every week with American families
- 2016 individual rate increases averaged 10 percent over 2015.
- 81 percent of employers will raise out-of-pocket costs within the next couple of years.
2. Carriers consolidate
The power is concentrating into fewer places. While we’ve seen some hospital plans develop or merge with regional health plans, the real news is the shrinkage.
- The five largest health insurance companies are reducing to three. Aetna (#3) buys Humana (#5), and Anthem (#2) absorbs Cigna (#4).
- Assurant sold off their medical insurance business last year.
- 22 of 23 PPACA-created co-ops lost money, and half closed. So that didn't create real alternatives.
3. Less plan options
As plan costs rise, increased mandates and compliance rules push off opportunities for innovative approaches to plan design. We keep hoping to find them as we scout around the U.S., but too often, we see signs of less medical plan options. For example:
- In Texas, a state that doesn't exactly embrace HMOs, BCBS of TX dropped all individual PPOs and moved everyone to their HMO.
- In Alaska, Moda Health's retreat from the market leaves only one individual medical plan serving the whole state.
- In a kind-of-related turn, many carriers (such as UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Cigna, and Oscar) now limit which plans they will pay brokers to sell. This is another way to drive members into specific plan designs.
4. Shrinking access to physicians
Driven by rate increases, a common carrier response is to reduce the size of the physician network. By driving the same number of members to a much smaller number of physicians and hospitals, the carrier can negotiate much better rates. Back in the 1990s, this was common. Now, we see this is a growing trend in about half the states. Another side of the access issue is that there just won't be enough doctors:
- The Association of American Medical Colleges latest survey reveals that by 2025, the U.S. will be short 46,000-90,000 physicians. And nothing is being done to increase the number of medical school graduates.
5. Pharmacy cost increases skyrocket — again
Prior to 2010, the pharmaceutical industry was the whipping-boy for trend increases. Have you noticed the silence on this topic for the past few years? Driven by major drugs moving to generics, Rx spending increases were low in recent years.
However, there are no more good trends in drugs turning generic on the horizon. And all we see on the horizon are amazingly expensive “specialty drugs.” It's what has driven prices to rise in the past year or so. And there's no end in sight for this trend. One VP of pharmacy for a major carrier predicted, “By 2025, up to 40 percent of the medical plan cost will be drugs.”
So where does this leave us as an industry? If these are the trends, then how should we respond? What solutions should carriers develop? What strategies can be used to best round out future plan designs?
Percent of Plans Offering HRA/HSA Option Plummet
Original post benefitspro.com
A study of some 10,000 employer sponsored plans by United Benefit Advisors of health plans revealed that about 24 percent of all health plans offered either an HSA or HRA component — a 29 percent decrease in the number of health plans nationally. That drop indicates that plan designers and health plan sponsors are still out of sync on the value of these accounts.
“Faulty plan design, in some instances, has led to smaller pricing gaps between traditional plans and HSA compatible plans,” says Steve Salinas, benefits advisor at Bridgeport Benefits, a California-based UBA Partner Firm. “Many insurers have added stipulations to their contracts disallowing employer-funded accounts in the presence of a high deductible plan.”
UBA’s data supports the overview that “enrollment and contributions to these account-based plans varied wildly based on employer size, industry, and region.”
It offered a large employer/small employer illustration of this near-chaotic situation. “While large employers typically offer the lowest contributions to account-based plans, companies with 200 to 1,000+ employees saw the most dramatic increases in enrollment, ranging from 50 to 90 percent over the last three years.”
In some respects, plan designers and consumers in California may be closer to figuring out how to design plans with HRAs and HSAs that strike a balance between the objectives of all three parties. California offers the best HRA and HSA plans for singles and families.
- California leads the country with the highest HRA contributions for singles, which average $2,288;
- California is the only region in the country that increased contributions over the last three years, making them the most generous in the nation by contributing $981 to singles and $1,789 to families;
- Families in California receive the second highest average family contribution to HRAs at $3,950, a 13 percent decrease from three years ago when they led the nation at $4,537;
- The average employer contribution to an HSA was $491 for a single employee and $882 for a family.
“In California, health insurance costs are so high that employees very often gravitate to the lowest cost options, typically the HSA-compatible high deductible plans,” says Keith McNeil, benefits advisor at Arrow Benefits Group in California, a UBA Partner Firm. “HRAs have been under health plan scrutiny due to the trend of self-insuring the high deductible through an HRA, which the health plan believes raises the cost of their plans. They have threatened penalties for non-compliance. So in the small group market, it has been much easier to simply offer HSA compatible plans and include the HSA as an option to members.”
“Large employers (1,000+ employees) have not typically offered competitive HRA or HSA plans because they are able to offer other types of more generous plans,” says Les McPhearson, CEO of UBA. “But this is the sector to watch: If they see the kind of double-digit cost increases other employer groups already have, they may have no choice but to offer more attractive HRA and HSA plans in an effort to control costs.”
Flexible Work Schedule Doesn't Hurt Productivity
Original post benefitspro.com
Schedule flexibility should not be perceived as a gift to employees, suggests a new study. If it were, the employer would be giving up something, presumably employee productivity.
But an increasing body of research indicates that flexible workplaces are no worse for wear than others with stricter schedules.
The most recent study, published this month by Phyllis Moen, a sociology professor at the University of Minnesota, analyzed the effect that flexible work policies have on IT workers at a major firm.
Half of the 867 workers continued working under the company’s existing policy, with standard schedules and exceptions occasionally granted by supervisors.
The other group was given an entirely open-ended schedule, with no restrictions, so long as the employees completed their assigned work. Supervisors were also encouraged to think about ways to reduce work-family conflicts for employees, and were even prompted twice a day reminding them to come up with such ideas.
The study found that those who were granted the additional flexibility were not any less productive than those who labored under the traditional schedule. Those with the flexible schedules also reported being much happier because of the reduced stress of trying to make time to pick up kids and other typical work-family conflicts.
The study prompted a major feature story in the New York Times Magazine, “Rethinking the Work-Life Equation,” which profiled the growing ranks of experts in favor of flexible scheduling. Employers are under increased pressure to help their workers strike a work-life balance because of shifting gender roles, as more and more married couples commit themselves to both career advancement and child-rearing.
Even employers that are generous to employees seeking schedule flexibility may not produce the same level of stress-reduction as a policy that explicitly grants unlimited flexibility.
‘‘What people told us, over and over again, was that the new policy removed the guilt,’’ Erin Kelly, an MIT professor who collaborated on the study, told the New York Times Magazine. ‘‘We heard that word a lot.’’
Regulatory clarity makes ID protection a more attractive employee benefit
Original post benefitsnews.com
Identity theft is the fastest growing crime and consumer complaint in America, and benefit industry experts say concerned employees are seeking protection as an employer perk more than ever. New regulatory certainty about how identity theft protection benefits are taxed could increase the popularity of the benefit as an employer offering.
More than 13 million Americans fall victim to identity theft every year, which means every three seconds someone's identity is stolen. Increased concern about the crime has individuals clamoring for identity theft protection benefits. How that benefit would be taxed, however, had been a topic of some debate in the benefit industry, with some employers eager to offer the benefit but concerned about the impact on employee income taxes.
In its Dec. 30 announcement, the IRS said it will allow preferential tax treatment for employer-provided identity theft benefits, despite the absence of a data breach. Generally, all benefits provided to an employee by an employer must be treated as income, unless the Code provides an exclusion. Previous guidance from the IRS created an exclusion for identity protection services, but only after a breach and only for individuals whose personal information might have been compromised.
The IRS’s latest announcement notes that several commenters requested guidance regarding the tax treatment of identity protection services provided before a data breach. According to the commenters, these services are being provided with increasing frequency in order to allow early detection of data breaches and minimize the impact of breaches when they occur. In response, the IRS has concluded that its previous guidance should be extended.
“The IRS will not assert that an individual must include in gross income the value of identity protection services provided by the individual’s employer or by another organization to which the individual provided personal information (for example, name, social security number, or banking or credit account numbers). Additionally, the IRS will not assert that an employer providing identity protection services to its employees must include the value of the identity protection services in the employees’ gross income and wages. The IRS also will not assert that these amounts must be reported on an information return (such as Form W-2 or Form 1099-MISC) filed with respect to such individuals,” the guidance states.
Any further guidance on the taxability of these benefits will be applied prospectively, it adds.
“This guidance is welcome news for employers that want to offer identity protection services to employees as part of their data security strategy. They may now offer these services without increasing their (or their employees’) federal tax liability. However, employers should be mindful of state and/or local tax laws as they may differ from federal tax law,” according to Tzvia Feiertag, a senior associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department of the global law firm Proskauer.
The preferential tax treatment does not apply to cash received in lieu of identity protection services or to proceeds received under an existing identity theft insurance policy, the guidance says.
Here are the top 10 most costly U.S. workplace injuries
Original post lifehealthpro.com
Workplace injuries and accidents are the near the top of every employer’s list of concerns.Here is the countdown of the top 10 causes and direct costs of the most disabling U.S. workplace injuries. The definitions and examples can be found at the BLS website.
- Repetitive motions involving micro-tasks
Some of these tasks may include a word processor who looks from the computer monitor to a document and back several times a day or the cashier at the local grocery store who is scanning and bagging groceries for several hours at a time.
- Struck against object or equipment
This category of workplace injury applies to workers who are hurt by forcible contact or impact, for example, an office worker who bumps into a filing cabinet or an assembly line worker who stubs a toe on stacked parts.
- Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects
These workplace injuries result from workers being caught in equipment or machinery that’s still running as well as in rolling, shifting or sliding objects.
Picture the scene in a movie in which wine barrels topple over, catching the bad guy beneath them, only in this case, it’s the employee whose job it may be to stack the barrels. Perhaps it’s the experienced worker who removes a machine guard to dislodge material that’s stuck and gets a finger caught when the machine starts moving again.
- Slip or trip without fall
Occasionally, workers do slip or trip without hitting the ground. Think of the employee entering the workplace who slips on icy stairs but is able to grab the handrail to prevent hitting the ground. But the action of grabbing the handrail may cause the employee to injure his shoulder or wrench her knee.
- Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle
The worker may be the driver, a passenger or a pedestrian, but the cause of the injury is an automobile, truck or motorcycle.
- Other exertions or bodily reactions
These motions include bending, crawling, reaching, twisting, climbing or stepping, according to the BLS. Consider, for example, a roofing contractor’s employees who are continually climbing up and down ladders.
- Struck by object or equipment
This category covers a range of possible injuries, from being struck by an object dropped by a fellow worker to being caught in a swinging door or gate. Picture the construction worker on a scaffold dropping a hammer on the worker below.
- Falls to lower level
The roofer could fall to the ground from the roof or ladder, or an office worker standing on a stepstool, reaching for a heavy file box, could fall to the floor.
- Falls on same level
The second most costly workplace injury, surprisingly, is a fall on the same level. Picture the employee who is walking through the office and falls over an uneven floor surface or someone leaning too far back in an office chair and toppling over.
- Overexertion involving an outside source
The BLS explains that overexertion occurs when the physical effort of a worker who lifts, pulls, pushes, holds, carries, wields or throws an object results in an injury.
The object being handled is often heavier than the weight that a worker should be handling or the object is handled improperly. For example, lifting from a shelf that’s too high, or in a space that’s cramped. Within the broad category of sprains, strains, and tears caused by overexertion, most incidents resulted specifically from overexertion in lifting.
Risk managers should work with their carriers and workplace safety specialists to minimize injuries, lost work days and workers’ compensation costs.With a little effort, employers can understand more about the causes of accidents and injuries in their organizations, identify the appropriate actions to reduce the number of injuries and minimize employee disabilities from workplace accidents.
4 ways to maximize the benefit of your workday breaks
Take a look at your workday. When do you take a break? How long is your break? What do you do on your break? Do you take more than one break? Do you feel recharged after your break?
Those questions were the focus of a study done by 2 Baylor University researchers. Emily Hunter, Ph.D. and Cindy Wu, Ph.D. are associate professors of management in Baylor's Hankamer School of business. The pair surveyed 95 employees between the ages of 22 and 67 over a 5-day workweek. Each person was asked to document each break they took.
The research defined a break as “any period of time, formal or informal, during the workday in which work-relevant tasks are not required or expected, including but not limited to a break for lunch, coffee, personal email or socializing with coworkers, not including bathroom breaks.”
When compiling the total of 959 break surveys, Hunter and Wu were able to provide a greater understanding of workday breaks. Their findings offer suggestions on when, where and how to plan the most beneficial daily escapes when on the clock.
Key findings of the study include:
1) Best time to take a workday break: Mid-morning.
A typical work day may have you counting down to lunch, but the study found an earlier break is more successful in replenishing energy, concentration and motivation.
“We found that when more hours had elapsed since the beginning of the work shift, fewer resources and more symptoms of poor health were reported after a break,” the study says. “Therefore, breaks later in the day seem to be less effective.”
2) What to do on your break: Something you enjoy and not necessarily non-work related.
The study found no evidence that non-work-related activities are more beneficial. Instead, do things choose to do and like to do which could include work-related tasks.
“Finding something on your break that you prefer to do – something that’s not given to you or assigned to you – are the kinds of activities that are going to make your breaks much more restful, provide better recovery and help you come back to work stronger,” Hunter said.
3)"Better Breaks" = Better health, increased job satisfaction
Employee surveys showed those that took mid-morning breaks and did things they preferred led to less somatic symptoms like headaches, eyestrain and lower back pain after the break.
The study also found the employees also experienced increased job satisfaction and a decrease in emotional exhaustion.
4) But how long should the break be?
The study wasn't able to pinpoint an exact length of time for a better workday break, but it did find that more short breaks with associated with higher resources - energy, concentration, and motivation.
“Unlike your cellphone, which popular wisdom tells us should be depleted to zero percent before you charge it fully to 100 percent, people instead need to charge more frequently throughout the day,” Hunter said.
Hunter and Wu believe the results of the study benefit both managers and employees.
Industry Life Cycle
Originally posted on Inc.com.
Life cycle models are not just a phenomenon of the life sciences. Industries experience a similar cycle of life. Just as a person is born, grows, matures, and eventually experiences decline and ultimately death, so too do industries and product lines. The stages are the same for all industries, yet every industry will experience these stages differently, they will last longer for some and pass quickly for others. Even within the same industry, various firms may be at different life cycle stages. A firms strategic plan is likely to be greatly influenced by the stage in the life cycle at which the firm finds itself. Some companies or even industries find new uses for declining products, thus extending their life cycle.
The growth of an industry's sales over time is used to chart the life cycle. The distinct stages of an industry life cycle are: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Sales typically begin slowly at the introduction phase, then take off rapidly during the growth phase. After leveling out at maturity, sales then begin a gradual decline. In contrast, profits generally continue to increase throughout the life cycle, as companies in an industry take advantage of expertise and economies of scale and scope to reduce unit costs over time.
STAGES OF THE LIFE CYCLE
Introduction
In the introduction stage of the life cycle, an industry is in its infancy. Perhaps a new, unique product offering has been developed and patented, thus beginning a new industry. Some analysts even add an embryonic stage before introduction. At the introduction stage, the firm may be alone in the industry. It may be a small entrepreneurial company or a proven company which used research and development funds and expertise to develop something new. Marketing refers to new product offerings in a new industry as "question marks" because the success of the product and the life of the industry is unproven and unknown.
A firm will use a focused strategy at this stage to stress the uniqueness of the new product or service to a small group of customers. These customers are typically referred to in the marketing literature as the "innovators" and "early adopters." Marketing tactics during this stage are intended to explain the product and its uses to consumers and thus create awareness for the product and the industry. According to research by Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, firms establish a niche for dominance within an industry during this phase. For example, they often attempt to establish early perceptions of product quality, technological superiority, or advantageous relationships with vendors within the supply chain to develop a competitive advantage.
Because it costs money to create a new product offering, develop and test prototypes, and market the product, the firm's and the industry's profits are usually negative at this stage. Any profits generated are typically reinvested into the company to solidify its position and help fund continued growth. Introduction requires a significant cash outlay to continue to promote and differentiate the offering and expand the production flow from a job shop to possibly a batch flow. Market demand will grow from the introduction, and as the life cycle curve experiences growth at an increasing rate, the industry is said to be entering the growth stage. Firms may also cluster together in close proximity during the early stages of the industry life cycle to have access to key materials or technological expertise, as in the case of the U.S. Silicon Valley computer chip manufacturers.
Growth
Like the introduction stage, the growth stage also requires a significant amount of capital. The goal of marketing efforts at this stage is to differentiate a firm's offerings from other competitors within the industry. Thus the growth stage requires funds to launch a newly focused marketing campaign as well as funds for continued investment in property, plant, and equipment to facilitate the growth required by the market demands. However, the industry is experiencing more product standardization at this stage, which may encourage economies of scale and facilitate development of a line-flow layout for production efficiency.
Research and development funds will be needed to make changes to the product or services to better reflect customers' needs and suggestions. In this stage, if the firm is successful in the market, growing demand will create sales growth. Earnings and accompanying assets will also grow and profits will be positive for the firms. Marketing often refers to products at the growth stage as "stars." These products have high growth and market share. The key issue in this stage is market rivalry. Because there is industry-wide acceptance of the product, more new entrants join the industry and more intense competition results.
The duration of the growth stage, as all the other stages, depends on the particular industry or product line under study. Some items—like fad clothing, for example—may experience a very short growth stage and move almost immediately into the next stages of maturity and decline. A hot toy this holiday season may be nonexistent or relegated to the back shelves of a deep-discounter the following year. Because many new product introductions fail, the growth stage may be short or nonexistent for some products. However, for other products the growth stage may be longer due to frequent product upgrades and enhancements that forestall movement into maturity. The computer industry today is an example of an industry with a long growth stage due to upgrades in hardware, services, and add-on products and features.
During the growth stage, the life cycle curve is very steep, indicating fast growth. Firms tend to spread out geographically during this stage of the life cycle and continue to disperse during the maturity and decline stages. As an example, the automobile industry in the United States was initially concentrated in the Detroit area and surrounding cities. Today, as the industry has matured, automobile manufacturers are spread throughout the country and internationally.
Maturity
As the industry approaches maturity, the industry life cycle curve becomes noticeably flatter, indicating slowing growth. Some experts have labeled an additional stage, called expansion, between growth and maturity. While sales are expanding and earnings are growing from these "cash cow" products, the rate has slowed from the growth stage. In fact, the rate of sales expansion is typically equal to the growth rate of the economy.
Some competition from late entrants will be apparent, and these new entrants will try to steal market share from existing products. Thus, the marketing effort must remain strong and must stress the unique features of the product or the firm to continue to differentiate a firm's offerings from industry competitors. Firms may compete on quality to separate their product from other lower-cost offerings, or conversely the firm may try a low-cost/low-price strategy to increase the volume of sales and make profits from inventory turnover. A firm at this stage may have excess cash to pay dividends to shareholders. But in mature industries, there are usually fewer firms, and those that survive will be larger and more dominant. While innovations continue they are not as radical as before and may be only a change in color or formulation to stress "new" or "improved" to consumers. Laundry detergents are examples of mature products.
Decline
Declines are almost inevitable in an industry. If product innovation has not kept pace with other competing products and/or service, or if new innovations or technological changes have caused the industry to become obsolete, sales suffer and the life cycle experiences a decline. In this phase, sales are decreasing at an accelerating rate. This is often accompanied by another, larger shake-out in the industry as competitors who did not leave during the maturity stage now exit the industry. Yet some firms will remain to compete in the smaller market. Mergers and consolidations will also be the norm as firms try other strategies to continue to be competitive or grow through acquisition and/or diversification.
PROLONGING THE LIFE CYCLE
Management efficiency can help to prolong the maturity stage of the life cycle. Production improvements, like just-in-time methods and lean manufacturing, can result in extra profits. Technology, automation, and linking suppliers and customers in a tight supply chain are also methods to improve efficiency.
New uses of a product can also revitalize an old brand. A prime example is Arm & Hammer baking soda. In 1969, sales were dropping due to the introduction of packaged foods with baking soda as an added ingredient and an overall decline in home baking. New uses for the product as a deodorizer for refrigerators and later as a laundry additive, toothpaste additive, and carpet freshener extended the life cycle of the baking soda industry. Promoting new uses for old brands can increase sales by increasing usage frequency. In some cases, this strategy is cheaper than trying to convert new users in a mature market.
To extend the growth phase as well as industry profits, firms approaching maturity can pursue expansion into other countries and new markets. Expansion into another geographic region is an effective response to declining demand. Because organizations have control over internal factors and can often influence external factors, the life cycle does not have to end.
An example is feminine hygiene products. Sales in the United States have reached maturity due to a number of external reasons, like the stable to declining population growth rate and the aging of the baby boomers, who may no longer be consumers for these products. But when makers of these products concentrated on foreign markets, sales grew and the maturity of the product was prolonged. Often so-called "dog" products can find new life in other parts of the world. However, once world saturation is reached, the eventual maturity and decline of the industry or product line will result.
LIFE CYCLES ARE EVERYWHERE
Just as industries experience life cycles, studies have documented life cycles in many other areas. Countries have life cycles, for example, and we traditionally classify them as ranging from the First World countries to Third World or developing countries, depending on their levels of capital, technological change, infrastructure, or stability. Products also experience life cycles. Even within an industry, various individual companies may be at different life cycle stages depending upon when they entered the industry. The life cycle phenomenon is an important and universally accepted concept to help managers better understand sales growth and change over time.
Just Say 'No' to Co-Workers' Halloween Candy
Originally posted on October 14, 2014 by Josh Cable on ehstoday.com.
Workplace leftovers might seem like one of the perks of the job. But when co-workers try to pawn off their Halloween candy on the rest of the department, it's more of a trick than a treat.
Those seemingly generous and thoughtful co-workers often are just trying to keep temptation out of their homes.
"Not only does candy play tricks on your waistline, but it also turns productive workers into zombies," says Emily Tuerk, M.D., adult internal medicine physician at the Loyola University Health System and assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
"A sugar high leads to a few minutes of initial alertness and provides a short burst of energy. But beware of the scary sugar crash. When the sugar high wears off, you'll feel tired, fatigued and hungry."
Tuerk offers a few tips to help you and others on your team avoid being haunted by leftover candy:
- Make a pact with your co-workers to not bring in leftover candy.
- Eat breakfast, so you don't come to work hungry.
- Bring in alternative healthy snacks, such as low-fat yogurt, small low-fat cheese sticks, carrot sticks or cucumber slices. Vegetables are a great healthy snack. You can't overdose on vegetables.
- Be festive without being unhealthy. Blackberries and cantaloupe are a fun way to celebrate with traditional orange and black fare without packing on the holiday pounds. Bring this to the office instead of candy as a creative and candy-free way to participate in the holiday fun.
- If you must bring in candy, put it in an out-of-the-way location. Don't put it in people's faces so they mindlessly eat it. An Eastern Illinois University study found that office workers ate an average of nine Hershey's Kisses per week when the candy was conveniently placed on top of the desk, but only six Kisses when placed in a desk drawer and three Kisses when placed 2 feet from the desk.
And if you decide to surrender to temptation and have a treat, limit yourself to a small, bite-size piece, Tuerk adds. Moderation is key.
Millennials under insured compared to other age groups
“A lot has been made of the so-called ‘young invincibles’ who are choosing to forgo health insurance,” said Laura Adams, senior analyst, insuranceQuotes.com. “This could be a costly mistake, especially because this group has easy access to health insurance. Young people typically pay much lower prices to obtain coverage via the health insurance exchanges and can receive subsidies depending on their income. Plus, they can stay on their parents’ health insurance policies until age 26.”
Millennials also are less likely than other age groups to own health, auto, life, homeowner’s, renter’s and disability insurance, according to the report. Some of the disparity can be attributed to living with their parents or having fewer assets to protect, insuranceQuotes.com said, but millennials appear to be under insured across all insurance lines.
“Fewer Gen Yers are buying houses and more are living at home with their parents,” said Kile Lewis, co-CEO and co-founder of oXYGen Financial, a financial planning firm serving generations X and Y. “But only 12 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds have renters insurance despite the fact that almost four out of five adults under 25 live on their own, and two-thirds of adults ages 25 to 29, rent their homes, according to a report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.”
Highlights from the report:
- 95 percent of millennials said their overall financial security is very or somewhat important, almost the same number as consumers aged 30 to 64.
- 12 percent of millennials have renter’s insurance.
- 64 percent of millennials lack life insurance. The most common objection is that it costs too much.
- 36 percent of millennials do not have auto insurance, which could be attributed to declining numbers of young adult drivers.
- 10 percent of millennials have homeowners insurance, compared to half of consumers ages 30 to 49, and 75 percent of those 65 and older.
- 13 percent of millennials have disability insurance, compared with 37 percent of those 30 to 49.
“Despite all of this evidence that millennials do not have a lot of insurance, most millennials are confident they are prepared for the financial consequences of car accidents, having their belongings stolen, incurring substantial medical bills or becoming disabled,” InsuranceQuotes said. “Sixty percent of 18-29 year-olds are either very or somewhat confident that they are prepared for those risks; older adults are equally confident in their own preparations.”
The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, and findings are based on responses from 1,003 adults in the continental United States. Statistical results were weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies; the margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points,