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SFV SFSP Chapter News Page 1
Vo l u m e 2 0 0 4, I s s u e 25 • April 2 0 0 4S a n F e r n a n d o Va l l e y E d i t i o n
What if you could do more for your employee benefit clients? That is the theme for this year’s“The Clinic”. We are fortunate to have it in Southern California on April 26 and 27 at the IrvineMarriott John Wayne Airport. It is sponsored by the Orange County Chapter. The Clinic will
President’s Message from Bruce Gendein, CLU, ChFC{ }
}{ Society = C5
Cutting Edge EducationCompetenceConfidenceCredibilityCompensation
cover HSA’s, HRA’s. FSA’s and MSA’s as well as voluntary prod-ucts and worksite marketing. They will focus not only on howthey work, but also on sales opportunities. You can get thedetails by calling (800) 392-6900 or accessing the Society website,www.financial/pro.org.
The Chapter sponsored study group on estate planning contin-ues to evolve. There is only room for 2 or 3 more members. Ifyour practice involves estate planning, membership in this studygroup is a must. The focus is on techniques and sales strategies.With all the discussion in Washington about reform vs. repeal,it is key to have ideas that will allow clients to move forward andnot leave their planning on hold.
Now that spring has officially sprung it is time to come out ofhibernation. Be involved, it’s good business and good for yourbusiness.
Gerald Cogan (retired)
Howard Fink
Helen Giroux, CLU
John Grubaugh, CPCU, CLU, ChFC
Kery McClure, CLU, CPCU
Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!
Renewals{ }
New Member{ }
William Reynolds, MSFS, CFS
Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!Thank You!
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SFV SFSP Chapter News Page 3
OfficersPresident Bruce Gendein, CLU, ChFC(818) 593-3535 E-mail: [email protected] President/Public RelationsLynn Williams, CLU, ChFC(818) 986-7711E-mail: [email protected]/TreasurerMark Jaffe, CLU, ChFC(818) 593-3535E-mail: [email protected] Past PresidentJohn Muraski, Ed.D, CLU, ChFC(805) 984-4967E-mail: [email protected]
Directors
Professional DevelopmentNeil Elmouchi, CLU, ChFC(818) 889-9373E-mail: [email protected] H. Pike, CLU, ChFC(805) 379-9355E-mail:[email protected] Jaffe, CLU, ChFC(818) 593-3535E-mail: [email protected] Study GroupsJohn Muraski, Ed.D, CLU, ChFC(805) 984-4967E-mail: [email protected] on DVDPaul Huard, CLU, ChFC(818) 368-4883E-mail: [email protected]/Professional Dev.Sue Nordman, CLU, CPCU, ChFC(818) [email protected]
Shirin Oliveras(818) 593-3535Chapter ExecutiveMarlowe Kepner(818) 999-1647Fax: (310) 943-2737E-mail: [email protected]
Cost-effective and ConvenientAudio conferences offer access to the insights of highly respected experts with one simple phone call from your officeor any convenient location. The registration fee, which includes a copy of the PowerPoint® presentation and arecorded copy (audiocassette or audio CD) of the program is only $49.99 for Society members. Purchase any two (ormore) programs at the same time and save 20% on the purchase price. For more information, call Customer Serviceat 800-392-6900.
SFV Chapter{ }Audio Conference{ }
{ }
Long Term Care Insurance:The New Employee Benefit
Wednesday, April 21st9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Despite being the new kid on the benefits block, awareness and acceptanceof long-term care insurance as an employee benefit is growing. Consequently,opportunities to market LTCI are still generating a lot of buzz.
In this informative session, you’ll learn about:♦ The type of business that buys long term care♦ Motivating the employer to buy♦ Challenges in the employer market♦ Avoiding potentially unproductive sales♦ Designing the executive carve out LTC benefit♦ Tax legislation and how it can benefit the employer
FEATURED SPEAKERS:Lisa McAree, CLU, is president of the McAree Agency, a Boston-basedinsurance firm that specializes in long term care and executive benefit plan-ning. She currently serves on the advisory committee for the professionaldesignation for long term care specialists, LTCP, created by the Health Insur-ance Association of America and American Association of Long-Term CareInsurance. Lisa is a past president of the Boston chapter of the NationalAssociation of Insurance and Financial Advisors, a past director for theBoston chapter of the Society of Financial Professionals, and in June of 2002completed a five-year term on the board of directors of the Boston EstatePlanning Council. She served on Agent Advisory councils for two of theleading LTC insurance companies and was also on the Massachusetts attorneygeneral’s Task Force on Long Term Care Financing in 1998 and 1999.
A presenter on the subject of LTC term care to numerous associations, shefrequently conducts seminars throughout New England for insurance profes-sionals, attorneys, accountants and consumers. She has appeared on severaltelevision and radio programs as an expert on LTC term care and is a regularcontributor to Life and Health Advisor. She has also been published in theBoston Business Journal, Life Insurance Selling, Life Association News and othernational publications.
Page 4 SFV SFSP Chapter News
Health-Care Costs: Blamed for Hiring GapTHE WALL STREET JOURNAL: March 11, 2004; Page A2
BY DAVID WESSEL
The search is on for an answer to the most pressing ques-tion in the U.S. economy today: Why are businesses soreluctant to hire new workers?
The popular answer is that business is hiring in India andChina instead of the U.S. But there isn’t enough offshoreoutsourcing going on to explain the mystery. The econo-mists’ quick answer — that productivity is rising — is atautology: Rising productivity reflects the fact that pro-duction is up and employment isn’t. It doesn’t explain it.
So now rising health-care costs are being fingered. “Medi-cal costs are rising more rapidly than anything else in theeconomy — more than prices, wages or profits. It isn’tonly current medical costs, but also the present value ofthe future stream of endlessly high cost increases that re-tards hiring,” suggests Roseanne Cahn, who runs her ownNew York consultancy called eCAHNomics.
The logic goes like this: For an employer, adding a workermakes sense when demand seems strong enough for thecompany to turn a profit from a worker’s labor. But add-ing a new worker means more than paying. There are alsopayroll taxes. And there are the costs of health care andpensions.
With health-care costs surging, employers prefer to squeezemore work from workers on their payrolls — or rely moreon temporary workers, who are much less likely to gethealth or pension benefits — than hire new workers. Thatgives rewards of extra labor without the cost of extra ben-efits.
“The reliance on existing workers and temporaries is typi-cal early in a recovery,” says Lawrence Katz, a labor econo-mist. “It is surprising so far into a supposed recovery, andsurprising given the rate of economic growth over the lastyear. I do think high and uncertain health-care costs arebeing viewed by some employers as a substantial fixed costto hiring new permanent employees.”
It’s a good hunch, but is it true? It’s easier to get execu-tives to explain why they are doing something than whythey’re not. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s surveys of employ-ers and other surveys find health costs to be a frequentlymentioned worry among executives.
{ }Market Trends
A random survey of 2,800 employers conducted last yearfound that the typical employer spent about $6,619 a yearper family on health-insurance premiums; the typical em-ployee paid an additional $2,412. Despite shifting costs toworkers, employers’ premiums have risen 38% during thepast three years. In the past year, the U.S. government saysemployers’ health costs have risen 10.5% while wages areup 3%.
Spending more on health isn’t necessarily bad. It isn’t allrising prices, excessive drug makers’ profits or unneededcare. Some reflects the growing American appetite forhealth care and costly life-improving advances in knowl-edge.
Even so, anxiety about rising health-care costs could be a particular ob-stacle to hiring at a time when busi-ness finds it difficult to raise prices tocover higher costs of any sort. For ev-ery new hire, notes Helen Darling,president of the National Business Group on Health,health insurance now costs an employer roughly as muchas payroll taxes. And none of President Bush’s tax cutshave made hiring more attractive; indeed, he and Congressoffered a sweet tax break to buy more machines and com-puters.
Skeptics cite some strong contrary evidence. The latestgovernment data don’t suggest that companies are mak-ing existing workers put in more hours. During the pastyear, the average front-line worker’s workweek has barelygrown, though an uptick has occurred recently in factoryovertime.
But use of temporary workers has soared. In the past 12months, private employers of all sorts have added only188,000 workers, an increase of just 0.2%. Economistskeep predicting that businesses must be about to hire en-thusiastically, given the economy’s growth. Some surveysof executives suggest that’s so. So far, the hiring hasn’thappened.
This much is clear: Those who identify rising health-carecosts as a big problem are quick to draw the link. If thejoblessness of the recovery persists, the public search forculprits will intensify. Health costs are bound to get morescrutiny and might even rival outsourcing as a focus ofpublic concern.
SFV SFSP Chapter News Page 5
The Society of Financial Services Professionals presents...
THE CLINIC: The Changing World of Employee Benefits
Employers are desperate for value and have begun to expect more from their brokers.Becoming a valued partner means bringing more options to the table.
Help your clients maximize the value of their benefits dollars - attend the Clinic andgain an understanding of the issues that are truly impacting the employee benefits market. As a Clinic attendee,you’ll examine:
• The alphabet soup of MSAs, HRAs and FSAs• The issues and costs involved in the design, implementation and administration of healthcare plans• Recent legal and regulatory issues pertaining to retirement plans. (Each program will review legal issues
pertaining to the surrounding geographical area)• What the future holds for the benefits industry• Day-to-day choices employees must make and that agents and consultants must provide
Irvine Marriott John Wayne AirportIrvine, CA
April 26, 2004: 1-5:30 pmApril 27, 2004: 8am-12:30 pm
For complete program details, including CE, speakers and registration information,go to http://www.financialpro.org/Program/Clinic/2004/promo.cfm.
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SFV SFSP Chapter News Page 7
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SFV SFSP Chapter Calendar
May 2004
Thursday, May 20thBoard of Directors Meeting
{ }June 2004
Friday, June 4th8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.Journal Study Group - Marmalade Cafe
Thursday, June 17th7:00 a.m. Board Meeting8:00 a.m. General MeetingWoodland Hills Country Club21150 Dumetz Rd, Woodland Hills
April 2004
Friday, April 2nd8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.Journal Study GroupMarmalade Cafe 4783 Commons Way(in the Calabasas Commons)
Thursday, April 15thBoard of Directors Meeting
By Stephanie Armour
As concern over the loss of jobs overseas intensifies, some com-panies are promoting their decision not to hire workers in othercountries to replace U.S. employees.“No outsourcing” could become the latest twist on the “made inthe USA” slogan. Now, consumers are compiling Web sites thattrack which employers outsource overseas, which means they hireworkers in other countries to do jobs typically held by U.S. em-ployees. And some businesses are letting clients request that worknot be farmed out to overseas workers.• TaxBrain, an online tax-preparation program, includes a sen-tence in its program that assures customers its employees are inthe USA: “All TaxBrain assistance is served from our office in Cali-fornia; we don’t outsource jobs to India or any other third parties.”• At First Health (FHCC), a managed care company in DownersGrove, Ill., clients come to tour the call center before signing upand receive assurances that the company won’t outsource.• Pleasanton, Calif., consumer direct lender E-Loan (EELN)discloses to home equity customers that some application work ishandled in India — and then lets clients choose whether to partici-pate or have the work done domestically.• Alpine Access, a Golden, Colo.-based call center whose em-ployees work at home, appeals to clients by offering to match op-erators with the type of customers who call. Says CEO Reg Fos-ter: “We’re not just keeping jobs in America, we’re creating jobs inAmerica.”Consumers are paying attention. Web sites such as Hireamerica.uslist companies that outsource and those that haven’t. Those thatdon’t are dubbed “patriotic.” U.S. employers will move about 3.3million white-collar jobs and $136 billion in wages abroad, accord-ing to Forrester Research. That’s up from $4 billion in wages in2000.Sentiment against outsourcing is building. At the federal and statelevel, legislators are considering bills aimed at discouraging com-panies from offshoring.
USA Today: Companies Crow About Keeping Jobs in the USA{ }The push by companies to advertise that they haven’t outsourcedis so new that there are no studies on how many are doing so.Many companies that do outsource jobs aren’t worried. Just 11%believed it hurt their brand image, according to a 2004 survey byHewitt Associates.Tom Peters, author of Re-Imagine! Business Excellence in a DisruptiveAge, says people may boycott companies as the issue heats up. Butcompanies that don’t offshore “will be at a disadvantage.”
Page 8 SFV SFSP Chapter News
SFV Society of Financial Service ProfessionalsPO Box 1088, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274
Phone: (818) 999-1647 • Fax: (310) 943-2737 • E-mail: [email protected]
Member: ______________________ Phone: ___________________Guests: _______________________ _________________________Change of Address Notification: _______________________________Please reserve my seat for the following events: Amount $_________
Journal Study GroupFriday, June 4th • 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.Marmalade Cafe, 4783 Commons Way (in the Calabasas Commons)
General Breakfast Meeting - Nicholas Ray “Software Analysis Program for Long Term Care”Thursday, June 17th • 8:00 a.m.Woodland Hills Country Club, 21150 Dumetz Road, Woodland Hills
President’s Message,
New and Renewed Members ___________________ Cover
Audio Conference _________________________ Page 3
Officers and Directors ______________________ Page 3
Inside This Issue{ }
Article: Health Care Costs ____________________ Page 4
The Clinic _____________________________ Page 5
Chapter Calendar _________________________ Page 7
Article: Keeping Jobs in Country ________________ Page 7
