Category Archives: Insurance / Employee Benefits

Small Businesses Should Consider Risk Management Policies To Mitigate Damages

September 11, 2019September 12, 2019

Thomas Flynn is co-founder, president and CEO of Jaeger & Flynn.

By Rachel Phillips
The nature of business often requires some level of risk taking, but not all risks a business owner faces are under their control.
For example, an employee may be injured in an accident, or a security breach could result in data loss or theft. While no one can completely avoid all potential risks, partnering with a qualified insurance or risk management provider can identify where they might be vulnerable and create a plan to manage and mitigate damages.
Thomas Flynn, co-founder, president and CEO of Jaeger & Flynn, with offices inn Saratoga Springs, Clifton Park and Glens Falls, said all risk management processes follow five basic steps: Identify the risk, analyze the risk, evaluate or “rank” the risk, treatment, and monitoring the risks regularly to assess whether they’ve changed.
Flynn said risks fall into one of three categories: personal, property or liability.
Personal risks refer to risks that can affect the health or safety of an individual, such as being injured or suffering from an illness. Property risks are risks that can cause partial or total loss to property, such as theft or fire. Liability risks refer to the risks associated with being found liable to another because of negligence, reneging on contractual obligations, etc.

Business Report: Want To Grow? Reinvest In Your Staff

September 11, 2019September 12, 2019

Michael Cruz, president of Lighthouse Advisors LLC in Queensbury.

By Michael Cruz
Good news. The economy is doing well. Bad news. That will shrink the labor market. Often, I write about hiring and its associated pains. There is one way you can reduce that pain. It is investing in the people you already have.
We already know that it costs less to keep our customers than it does to acquire new ones. The same is true about the people that work for you. Hiring is difficult, it is expensive, and it is not a 100 percent solution.
Many years ago, I worked for a very fast-growing software company. When I joined it, the company’s sales were $18 million. When I left 7 years later, sales topped $450 million.
Amazing! One of the most stunning attributes of that industry was that we were all fairly young and inexperienced. We were a young company and we were a young management team. We worked to figure out our weaknesses and we brought in experts to address them. And that personal growth kept me loyal to the company. Even when I was offered more money to leave!
I outlasted every person that joined the company when I did. Many others quit. When asked why I stayed, I said: the growth afforded me opportunities.

State Enacts Workplace Harassment Law Containing Stronger Employee Protections

September 11, 2019September 12, 2019

New York state has enacted sweeping new workplace harassment protections that strengthens anti-discrimination laws to ensure employees can seek justice and perpetrators will be held accountable.
It eliminates the restriction that harassment be “severe or pervasive” in order to be legally actionable; mandating that all non-disclosure agreements allow employees to file a complaint of harassment or discrimination. It also extends the statute of limitations for employment sexual harassment claims filed from one year to three years.

Consider Business Interruption Insurance In The Event Of Flood, Fire Or Natural Disaster

September 14, 2018September 14, 2018

John O’Brien, owner of O’Brien Insurance Agency in Glens Falls.

By Maureen Werther

What would happen to a business if an unforeseen disaster struck? Are businesses prepared to weather the storm and rebuild without breaking the bank? Is a business eligible for business interruption insurance?

Those are some important questions business owners need to know about their coverage.

Business interruption insurance is the part of a policy helps businesses that may suffer damage from a fire, flood, or other type of disaster. It can be as important to your business as fire insurance.

Business Report: The Power Of A Great Benefits Plan

September 14, 2018September 14, 2018

Sherry Finkel Murphy, financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual.

provided by

Sherry Finkel Murphy MS, RICP

The ability to grab and hold on to the best talent is crucial to the long-term success of any business.

One of the most effective ways to keep employees engaged and motivated is by offering them a carefully crafted benefits plan. Along with salary, it’s what employees look at most carefully when deciding whether to join and stay with a firm.

When you give your employees the benefits they value, they’ll likely be more productive, miss fewer workdays and have a higher commitment to helping you build your business. In fact, the LIFE Foundation reports that three in four workers consider benefits a decisive factor in weighing job opportunities.

Business Report: How Can Life Insurance Help You

September 14, 2018September 14, 2018

Breanna Lundy is a financial adviser with Edward Jones Financial in Greenwich, NY.

By Breanna L. Lundy

You may not be aware of it, but September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. Of course, you probably recognize, at least in a general sense, the importance of life insurance, but do you know the various ways in which it can help you?

Life insurance can play a sizable role in your ability to achieve some important financial goals, such as these:

Helping your family maintain its lifestyle.

If you are married and have young children at home, you and your spouse may need to work. If you were no longer around and your earnings were gone, could your family still afford to live as they do now? Adequate life insurance can help them preserve their lifestyle.

Capital Financial Group Rebrands Itself As Employee Benefits Division of Upstate Agency

September 14, 2018September 14, 2018

Capital Financial Group Inc., headquartered at 89 Saratoga Ave. in South Glens Falls, recently rebranded as the Employee Benefits Division of Upstate Agency LLC, its sister agency.

Both Upstate and Capital have been part of the Arrow Financial Corp. family of companies, which includes Glens Falls National Bank and Saratoga National Bank, for many years.

The joining of Capital under the Upstate brand seeks to deliver more value to the customer through efficiency and synergy.

Business Report: How To Choose A Health Plan

September 13, 2017

Jason Bowman, employee benefits consultant, Capital Financial Group Inc.
Courtesy Glens Falls National Bank

By Jason Bowman

If you are like most people who find choosing a health plan confusing and stressful, rest assured that a little homework can help make the decision process easier.

When it comes to insurance, unfamiliarity can lead to choices that may not suit you best. But the good news is you get a “do-over” annually during open enrollment.

A good place to start is understanding common health insurance-related terms, such as the “metal” levels of bronze, silver, gold and platinum. It kind of sounds like the Olympics, minus all the excitement.

The idea behind these descriptions is to give you, as the prospective insured, an idea of how costs will be shared between you and your insurer. You will receive the same standard health services regardless of the level, but your cost-share will vary depending on which level you select.

Bronze level means 60 percent is the insurance carrier’s share, 40 percent is your share. Silver level is 70 percent/30 percent; gold level, 80 percent/20 percent; and platinum, 90 percent/10 percent.

To keep it simple, a bronze plan, in most cases will have the same exact network of healthcare providers and prescription drug coverage as that of a platinum plan. The noticeable difference among all levels will be the premiums and the cost of services at time of usage. Simply stated, pay less in premiums and you’ll pay more out-of-pocket at the time of service.

Non-Traditional Types Of Employee Benefits Are Being Used More Often By Employers

September 13, 2017

Gail Hamel is the owner of Hamel Resources LLC in Lake George.
Courtesy Hamel Resources LLC

By Susan E. Campbell

When companies cut back on traditional employee benefits, such as the 15-year trend in vanishing pension plans, decisions may not be based exclusively on economics.

Many of the non-traditional types of benefits now appearing in the workplace are in response to changes in the age, lifestyles and preferences of today’s employees.

There are not enough Generation X-ers to take the place of baby boomers as they retire and leave the work force. Boomer children will. About 60 percent of the workforce in 2020 is expected to be made up of millennials, or Generation Y, those born in the two decades before 2000.

Now in their 20s to late 30s, millennials have different priorities from their parents or even the generation that preceded theirs, said Gail Hamel, owner of Hamel Resources LLC in Lake George.

“In general, younger people today aren’t thinking about retirement,” said Hamel. “They live in the moment because of the world in which they were raised.”

Another major traditional benefit, health coverage, continues to experience cutbacks in the employer-paid portion compared to the percentage covered for baby boomers.

“But no one knows where health care will be even months from now,” said Hamel. “Gen Y is more concerned with just getting a career started.”

Insurance Industry Sets Information Security Principles To Protect Data Of Policy Holders

September 15, 2016November 8, 2017

The insurance industry is intensifying its efforts related to information security and has established guiding principles to protect retained policyholder data. The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York (IIABNY), New York Insurance Association (NYIA) and Professional Insurance...