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Rhodes-Joseph & Tobiason Advisors is a woman owned and managed business | |
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Greetings!
Welcome to the new Rhodes-Joseph & Tobiason Advisors email newsletter, Managing Benefits Now™. We're pleased to send this first issue to our clients, colleagues and friends. As many of you know, we're building our new employee benefits advisory firm. We look forward to sharing our views about benefits and we'll also let you know what we're doing. We hope our newsletter will be of interest to you.
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| NEWS ABOUT OUR COMPANY |
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We've been very busy
It's challenging to set up your own business. But what fun!! We're headquartered in Greenwich, CT and are expanding nationally to key markets. Recently, we were in Phoenix focusing on new services to help Arizona employers manage their benefit programs. We're organizing local seminars coaching employers on the process of managing benefits now.
We've been connecting with our network, through meetings, calls and social media. Be sure to connect with us on LinkedIn. We're fortunate to be starting our business when the internet enables us to have a global presence and keep in touch with so many friends and colleagues. Connections lead to referrals which are the lifeblood of a small business. Keep us in mind when you see where we can help.
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MANAGING BENEFITS CHECKLISTS™
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Use Checklists to Manage Benefits
Experts tell us that one of the best ways to manage in high risk situations and avoid costly mistakes is to use a checklist. This seemingly simple tool has been shown to reduce medical errors in hospitals by some 50% and pilots don't take off without reviewing their pre-flight checklist.
Here are 2 quick US benefits checklists for you to use now to navigate through these extraordinary times. We've included new health care rules and some of the latest thinking on 401(k) challenges and innovations.
Checklist for health plans
- COBRA - new subsidy for involuntarily terminated employees
- Michelle's Law - new rules requiring continued coverage for dependent children on medical leaves of absence
- HIPAA Privacy - notice update requirement
- CHIPRA - special enrollment period, notice requirement and plan amendments
- Mental Health Parity - new requirements for providing these benefits
Checklist for 401(k) retirement programs
- Monitor your stable value fund - is it really stable?
- Target date funds are rapidly evolving - have you checked the "glide path" and, for larger plans, looked into customized funds?
- Beyond auto enrollment - are you looking at annual auto escalation or default re-enrollment?
- Distribution alternatives - should your plan provide guaranteed periodic income and/or minimum withdrawal benefits?
- Employer contributions - whether or not you've been able to maintain matching contributions, do you have a communication strategy to address employee concerns?
- Transparency in fee disclosures - are you proactively implementing best practices in advance of the rules changing?
Taking Action
Employers look to their benefit service providers and vendors for support in meeting these plan design, compliance, administrative and governance challenges.
We're available to help employers coordinate these resources to better manage their benefits programs.
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| OUR SERVICES |
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Rhodes-Joseph & Tobiason Advisors provides
Employee benefit services focused on helping employers better manage their benefit programs for business growth. We offer valuable advisory services to medium to larger employers, their benefit plan service providers, private equity groups, benefit professionals and financial planners.
We bring our expertise to clients, based on decades of global employee benefit experience. We help employers meet two of the biggest challenges faced today - the attraction and retention of the best talent while balancing the cost and value of increasingly complex employee benefit plans.
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And stay in touch. Our clients, colleagues and friends are very important to us.
Best Regards,
Donna Rhodes Joseph
203-542-7260
Pete Tobiason
203-542-7261
© Copyright 2009 Rhodes-Joseph & Tobiason Advisors, LLC
All rights reserved
DISCLAIMER: This newsletter consists of information of general interest and should be viewed and used solely for informational purposes. Rhodes-Joseph & Tobiason Advisors is an employee benefits advisory company which does not provide or engage in the practice of accounting, actuarial, brokerage, investment, legal or tax services. |
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