A Holiday Greeting From Best Money Moves…

A Holiday Greeting From Best Money Moves…

In this week’s Best Money Moves roundup, we take a look at news stories and new research studies that may impact employee benefits and HR issues. We hope you find this news roundup helpful, and we’d love your feedback.

 

Best Money Moves is growing at an incredible rate and more and more people are signing up, logging in and dialing down their financial stress. We strive day-in and day-out to provide our users access to unbiased , leading-edge financial resources – all with a single click.  

And we are getting great feedback. One user told us that her stress had gone from a 7 to a 4 because of Best Money Moves. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.

To everyone receiving the BMM Roundup every week, we wish you the best for the holidays and a prosperous 2018!

Warmest regards,

Ilyce Glink

 

Navigating gift-giving at work can be tricky. The seemingly simple (and fun) task of a holiday gift exchange can often feel overwhelming and overbearing: How much should you spend? Can you give a gift-card – or even cash? How personal should it be?  Choose the right gift with these tips.

Laughter can create legal liability – here’s what you should know. A poorly chosen joke or off-the-cuff remark by an employee – even if well intended – can bring serious legal troubles to your company and cause higher employee turnover. When workplace humor just isn’t funny.

Millennial employees aren’t asking the right questions about retirement, but they want to. Over one third of millennials cited saving for retirement as their number 1 source of financial stress and half have no clue how much money they’ll need to live on. Here’s how you should help.

The CVS-Aetna merger will influence how your company continues to provide healthcare benefits.  A recent Aon survey shows that top U.S. employers may start contracting healthcare benefits differently, based on this massive takeover.  Here’s how the merger could affect you.

How does your HR team handle sexual harassment complaints? All companies are held to the same standards; regardless of size, industry or location. Being prepared to properly respond involves planning and legal consultation. Be prepared to swiftly address harassment claims.

Congratulations, you’ve made it through 2017’s open enrollment! Don’t worry, you still have plenty of work to do. There are some very important items you’ll want to be on top of before the year ends, in order to avoid headaches later. Here’s your post-ACA-enrollment checkup.

Let the end-of-year vacation binge begin! Often, the stress of arranging your time off or worrying that everything will crumble while you’re gone can derail your trip-planning all together. We all need time off and worrying the entire time is not going to let you unwind. 6 tips to a stress-free break.

Have something to add? Email info@bestmoneymoves.com.

Get to Know the Team Behind Best Money Moves!

Get to Know the Team Behind Best Money Moves!

Ilyce Glink

This week, we are highlighting Best Money Moves’ founder and CEO, Ilyce Glink. She is an award-winning television and radio personality, a nationally-syndicated columnist, an innovator in content marketing and is the author of more than a dozen books with nearly 1 million in print.

Her latest ebook/webinar offering is Intentional Investor: How to be Wildly Successful in Real Estate. In 2018, she will publish the fourth edition of her bestselling first-time homebuyer book.

More than 15 years ago, Glink started Think Glink Media, a digital communications agency producing award-winning work, profitable campaigns and loyal customers. TGM’s clients include Fortune 1000 companies in the financial services, real estate, and health sectors as well as start-ups and nonprofits.

I was able to sit down with Ilyce and asked her to answer a few questions about why she started Best Money Moves:

 

Q: What made you focus on financial wellness?

A: I’ve always believed that consumers should be able to (and can) make 95% of their best money moves on their own, without a paid professional. So, I’ve dedicated my career to helping people to make smarter decisions with their money. In the early years, I focused more on real estate, which is why I wrote 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask, but as I learned more about personal finances and how integrated it is, I focused on holistic financial wellness.

Five years ago, I was hired by some Fortune 500 companies to design financial wellness programs but they wanted them to be selling machines for products and services. Given that  we were in the aftermath of the Great Recession, I didn’t think that would work. And, it didn’t.

Q: Is that when you decided to start Best Money Moves?

A: Yes. I started it because I knew there was a better way to help people and employees.

Q: What would you say were the drivers behind the design of the product?

A: It had to be based in the cloud, so you’d get real-time reporting and features. We wanted it to be mobile-first, because folks need to be able to use it anywhere. We wanted to make it simple to use, easy to understand, yet provide great depth of knowledge. And, we wanted to use machine learning so it would be smart enough to be extremely personalized and relevant. Lastly, we wanted employers to get the same real-time experience that they were providing to their employees.

Q: There’s a lot of noise around financial wellness now. What are the key differentiators for your business?

A: Wherever we go, CEOs, CHROs, and CFOs are fascinated by our Stressometer(™), which we use to measure someone’s financial stress. We break down financial stress into 15 categories and use machine learning algorithms to delve deeper and identify the root causes of the stress.

Q: Where did the idea for the Stressometer™ come from?

A: From my years of being a radio talk show host. It sounds kind of funny, but when I would take people’s questions on WSB Radio or WGN Radio, they’d say they wanted one answer – but if I dug a bit deeper, I’d realize that there was another issue that had to be solved first. For example, if they said, “I want to refinance,” I’d ask why. And I might get an answer like, “Well, I’m getting divorced.” And, that would require a completely different set of questions to get to the right solution.

Q: What’s your favorite part of Best Money Moves?

A: That we’re helping people. That we seem to have figured out how to make individuals understand their finances and we are helping  people get out of debt.

https://bestmoneymoves.com/leadership/

This Week’s ACA Registration Deadline Brings Changes for 2018

This Week’s ACA Registration Deadline Brings Changes for 2018

In this week’s Best Money Moves roundup, we take a look at news stories and new research studies that may impact employee benefits and HR issues. We hope you find this news roundup helpful, and we’d love your feedback.

This year’s Affordable Care Act registration ends December 15th. Here’s what you need to know and why you should be helping “push” your employees across the finish line.

This year, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has the shortest enrollment period ever, reduced to 45 days from its previous 3 month enrollment period. This may prevent individuals from registering on time, especially those “healthy procrastinators.” As an employer, you may be penalized.

The ACA requires that employers with 50 or more full-time employees provide health insurance to all full-time employees and their dependents. With rumors afoot, there is a lot of confusion right now among employers; it’s important to know that offering benefits is still required and the Affordable Care Act is still very much in effect as “law of the land.”

2018 will bring several changes to policies and the how the ACA is enforced. Most importantly, there will be changes in processes, forms and filing dates and you may face a time crunch early in the year, which could possibly affect dealings with your employees as well your interactions with the IRS.

Additionally, those employers who may have been  noncompliant with the ACA at any point between 2015-2017 will be hearing about it soon. The IRS has been slow to address noncompliance, but they are catching up and employers might receive three years of fees at once.  

It is important for employers to know what aspects of the Affordable Care Act have changed, and which have remained the same – and you need to know by the end of this week.

2018’s changes to the Affordable Care Act: What you need to know, ASAP.

The numbers speak for themselves. A company that invests in developing a quality onboarding process is 25 percent more likely to retain its workforce and increase employee performance. Here are the top picks of the industry’s contemporary,  innovative and cutting-edge employee onboarding processes. Develop your cutting-edge onboarding process today.

Are you and your HR team ready for the upcoming year? As December mulls to a close, so does your annual checklist. Whether you’re ahead of your game or looking for a well-intentioned distraction, there’s always more to get done! From open enrollment to flexible spending, vacation days and file auditing, ‘tis the season to read-up on and start checking-off your end-of-year HR checklist.

Are the holidays causing undue financial stress in the workplace? Don’t let the winter-holiday-woes weigh heavy on your employees. Sometimes, a fun distraction is the best short-term solution there is! Here are 5 outstanding ways to recognize, celebrate and enjoy the holiday season – at work. Help your employees de-stress during the holidays.

Company benefits are amping up in 2018. Recognizing the importance of helping your employees make better financial decisions is going to pay off, in the short and long term. Studies show that employers who focus on the overall on-the-job satisfaction of their teams are seeing higher productivity and less turnover. Employee benefits trends to watch out for.

Self-Employed? Setting up a healthy retirement-savings plan is even more important for people like yourself. Unlike traditional employees, the likelihood of your having a 401(k) or pension is quite low. Did you know that 42 percent of self-employed professionals and small business owners are dangerously not preparing for their retirement?  Start planning for your retirement, today!

Should paid time off be provided in cases of extreme weather? Absolutely. Employee benefits are meant to provide flexibility and ease of mind when life intervenes with work expectations. With the massive uptick in extreme weather, “climate leave” is rising through the charts of standard, expected employee benefits. Here’s why your staff should be paid during inclement weather.  

The baby boomer brain-drain has arrived. Boomers are beginning to leave the workforce en masse. 56 percent of US leadership positions are held by boomers and 66 percent of all US companies are owned by these seasoned employees. As the wave of retirement arrives, how can companies retain the boomers’  knowledge and expertise? How to resist the brain-drain.

Have something to add? Email info@bestmoneymoves.com.

This Holiday Season, Give More Benefits – That’s What Employees Want!

This Holiday Season, Give More Benefits – That’s What Employees Want!

In this week’s Best Money Moves roundup, we take a look at news stories and new research studies that may impact employee benefits and HR issues. We hope you find this news roundup helpful, and we’d love your feedback.

Does non-cash compensation really matter? A reported 4 out of 5 employees say they would prefer a benefits increase over a pay raise. In recent years, unique and thoughtful workplace benefits have not only become more important to applicants, your current employees expect them as well.

Nobody wants to be dragging their feet all day! Your team wants to be engaged, productive and happy at work – in line with a healthy work-life balance. Providing unlimited vacation days or having a gourmet chef on premises are certainly not the only ways to keep your employees satisfied with their jobs.

During this holiday season, we all have giving on our minds but if you’re a small business, you may find that you’re simply unable to budget for additional employee contributions this year. Well, a  great way to circumvent the cost of individual bonuses or gifts is to improve your employees’ overall benefits in an inexpensive way that’s sure to impress and please everyone in the office.

They say that it’s the little things that count. Well, when it comes to employee benefits, it’s perks of all sizes that will keep your team members happy, healthy, productive and coming back for more.

These five employee benefits will be gifts that keep on giving.

Open Enrollment closes December 15, 2017. Are your employees ready? Unexpected personal health care costs bring financial stress to the workplace. You care about your employees’ wellbeing and arming them with resources and assistance will not only show that you care, it can make a significant difference in their lives.  5 ways to help your employees, before it’s too late.

Open over the holidays? Make sure your employees are taken care of. When implementing holiday schedules, pay and perks, common practice varies from legal requirements. But at the end of the holiday season, it’s going to be your employees who will make note of the difference. Give your employees some cheer this holiday season.

Want to improve productivity in the office? Lower employee financial stress. Study after study shows that employees are stressed over personal finances – and it’s affecting your company’s bottom line. Helping your team find organization and relief within their own bottom lines will greatly improve workplace stress, enjoyment and productivity. Employee stress reducers inside.

Are you or someone you know under the age of 40? If so, listen up: The newly passed tax plan severely “kicks millennials in the teeth, taking from their future, to give to the richest Americans in the present.” What’s done is done. So, the best money move for you, your kids, your employees and your business is to plan for your present as well as your future, today. The new tax plan explained.

Does your Company offer Paternal Leave? It should. 83 percent of America’s largest workforce claims that receiving this family benefit would be a deciding factor when accepting a new position. And, 38 percent of employees under 38 years old offered to take a position abroad if it offered better family leave policies. Are you losing out on quality staff?  How do you measure up?

Millennials have stepped up to the plate. It turns out that Millennials aren’t job-hopping any more than anyone else. These employees want long-term employment opportunities with solid benefits including: convenient access to healthcare, flexible work hours and financial education programs.  Understand your employees’ benefits expectations.

Is your company prepared for a data breach? Cyber security is nothing new but, believe it or not, many companies are still a few steps behind the times when it comes to system integrity. A significant amount of data breaches that occur involve human resource – related information. Take the steps to prepare. Become an expert by securing your clients – and your company.

Have something to add? Email info@bestmoneymoves.com.

Planning Your Company’s Holiday Party? Prevent Legal Risk with These Steps

Planning Your Company’s Holiday Party? Prevent Legal Risk with These Steps

In this week’s Best Money Moves roundup, we take a look at news stories and new research studies that may impact employee benefits and HR issues. We hope you find this news roundup helpful, and we’d love your feedback.

Although the logic of company holiday parties will be debated until the end of time, studies show that they do help boost employee morale. And that’s great! But, what about the morale of senior management? Does the idea of a potential disaster keep you up at night?

Make no mistake: we aren’t talking about how many paper plates you should buy or how much dip you will need. This is holiday party planning for the 21st century workplace. Reduce your legal liability with a smattering of timeless wisdom: Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

From reducing employee alcohol consumption to preventing unlawful harassment (often stemming from excessive employee alcohol consumption), here are a few timeless, proactive steps that you can take to lessen post-holiday party liability.

Don’t forget, employers are employees too – and the holiday party is meant for you to enjoy as well!

(Don’t forget to do your own research, as laws do vary state by state.)

Steps to reduce your liability during this year’s holiday fun.

Your 401(k) is not your personal piggy bank for holiday spending! When you take a loan from your 401(k), you’re not just taking out cash, you’re taking out the eventual growth that goes along with it. It is recommended that you only pull funds for an emergency or a down payment on a home. Your 401(k)’s best money moves.

Ready or not! 2018 is upon us and brings us new labor and employment laws. Changes are coming to laws and policies at the federal, state and local levels. Areas affected go well beyond the realms of healthcare, employment eligibility, overtime, equal pay and background checks. Is your company ready to accommodate these changes? New laws you need to know for 2018.

A lack of savings and overall financial stress reduces employee productivity. More and more studies are showing that your team members don’t know how to save. This puts your entire company at the mercy of unexpected emergencies. Financial strain of any kind never stays out of the workplace. What can you do? Easy ways to reduce stress and raise productivity now!

Human Resources has evolved to being the most dynamic part of the workforce. HR goes well beyond hiring and firing – this department has a huge impact on employee engagement and success, along with the health and longevity of your company’s future. Are you building a great workplace experience? The future of human resources inside.

Is your company up to snuff when it comes to paid time off?  Certain workplace benefits are more highly regarded than others but PTO seems to take the cake across the board. From vacation time to sick days, personal days and family leave – how can you choose which is best for your company? Different PTO options your HR department should consider.

Will your small business be affected by the NAFTA trade changes? Small business leaders are finding that upcoming changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement may drastically affect product availability and bottom lines. With unknown changes coming to most imported and exported goods, your business could be at stake.  NAFTA’s uncertain times.

Think your company’s job perks are above par? Think again. Basecamp, an ever-growing web development company views their employee benefits very simply: employees’ standard of living is top priority. It turns out that generous salaries and benefits, vacation stipends and shorter summer workdays yields higher productivity, higher profit. Life changing job perks inside.

 

Have something to add? Email info@bestmoneymoves.com.