Blog

Article By: Trevor Pietila
Accounting Specialist

About 10 years ago, I gave my notice to a former employer, and during my exit interview, was given some great advice from the head of HR: “Make sure you don’t just leave for ‘more money,’ be sure you are looking at the total compensation package.” Being 22, I thought I had done enough due diligence: salary, retirement, short-term disability, vacation time. Everything looked great, until about 3 months in… I had to pick my health insurance plan. At this point, I truly understood what my former HR manager meant by “the total compensation package.” I was unfortunately met with a far less comprehensive plan with a higher deductible. At the time, being single with no dependents, it wasn’t really an issue, but looking at the employee+ children, and the family plan pricing, I realized that if my situation had been different, I would have unknowingly taken a pay cut, based on my previous employer’s much more attractive health insurance plan.

Fast forward 8 years, I interviewed for my current job at Insurance Trust; I now have a dependent on my health insurance plan that I cover. Compensation comes up. The salary was important to me; I knew the range. They, fortunately, have employer-paid health insurance (to this day, I am very thankful), but I also wanted to ask about the health insurance rates for covering a dependent. I began my new role with Insurance Trust.  After I was hired, our VP of People Strategy, Elizabeth Ingram said one of the things that stuck out to her about me at the interview as I had asked about the insurance plan and rates upfront, and that wasn’t very common.

I discovered in a recent survey from Bank Rate that apparently 55% of people in the workforce are actively looking for a new job! 55% is a large number; with the pandemic, most employees are citing more flexibility, the ability to work from home, and higher salaries. You can look at a job description, and see qualifications, experience needed, the salary range offered, employer-paid insurance for the employee, 401k matches, etc. But for some prospective employees, the health insurance coverage and pricing is one of the most important parts of the compensation package!

Over the years, I’ve unfortunately seen several people take a higher salary only to realize once they sign up for the health insurance, they actually took a pay cut. I’ve had friends and family members go through multiple interviews at companies only to decline the job because they were finally able to see what health insurance was offered.

Why is it not common practice to ask for insurance rates upfront, or have them displayed to prospective applicants? Especially if you are an employer that helps cover the costs of dependents or family plans! Shout it from the rooftop; it’s a big deal!

If you are someone looking for a job, how much more willing would you be to apply for a position that was just as transparent about health insurance plans/pricing/rates as they were about the salary and expectation of the job?

Article By: Sharon Little
Office Manager, Insurance Trust

Change comes in many forms and can be especially difficult if you had your heart set on something that didn’t turn out the way you had hoped. However, if we look back at the changes we’ve experienced in the past, we often find that things worked out okay or often better than what we thought at the time. As the saying goes, “The only thing constant, is change,” so if we must change, we may as well embrace it and make it work for us instead of against us. Sometimes managing our mindset and positivity about change can come from a seemingly unrelated or unlikely place, like changing up your daily routine. The following are 3 tips to consider that have helped me to shift my mindset to embrace change; I hope these may be helpful to you as well.

Make a Little Time to Exercise
If possible, schedule a little time during the day for a brief workout, even if it’s 5 minutes. Working out in the morning has helped me to feel more awake and super-charge at the beginning of my workday. There are some great free apps available to help get your blood pumping (such as Daily Workouts Fitness Trainer iOS | Andriod ). You can alternate walking, running, weights and stretching throughout the week to keep your body guessing and use all your muscles.  If your job changed to work from home, you’ve likely found that your step counter is more idle, so doing a little extra and using that prior drive time may just be enough to stave off gaining a little weight, especially through the colder seasons. 

Meal Prep & Meditation
If your schedule is busier now than it used to be, you could consider meal prep. Prepping your lunch and dinner meals on Sunday night can help with healthier options for the week to come and free up some of your daily lunch hour for a little meditation. I know it may sound silly, but meditating is a great way to help improve your frame of mind and calmness throughout the day. There are many free meditations of various lengths online (such as Calm and Headspace).  There is no wrong way to meditate, even if thoughts come in… just let them back out and move on without judgment. Did you know that when one person meditates, it changes the vibe of those around them by 20%? I love the idea that meditating can help make life a bit easier for my loved ones, co-workers and even the community. 

Eliminate Clutter
If you work at home and look at the same four walls every day you can tend to get pretty frustrated at unfinished projects, piles of household papers and too much stuff.  I’m guilty there and have been doing a lot of cleaning out over the last few months.  Since I’ve cleaned out, I find I have more room to think, focus and enjoy the good things that life holds.  The idea to change was much harder than the actual change in this case.  Try it and see what it can do for you; maybe your space just needs a refresh to feel pleasing to you. 

Easing into change takes many forms, and it turns out that those forms have beneficial outcomes.  Change is good, change is beneficial, and change is necessary to get us to recognize what we have.  Life is good if you take responsibility for it and keep up on your home and body maintenance.  Change helps you be more resilient to new situations in the future. I think it’s worth it to embrace where you are, declutter your home, meditate with your family and go for a walk every day. Embrace what change comes to you and act on what you discover to fuel your future growth and wellbeing. 

Article by Paul Michaud
Chief Operating Officer, Insurance Trust 

Consumers looking to purchase a new or used vehicle this year may not see the auto rates drop as drastically as the previous year, but rock bottom interest rates will soon be here.  The National average rate for a 60-month term for a new auto loan started 2021 at 4.24% and dropped slightly to 4.18% halfway through the year (Bankrate Data).  Correspondingly, 36-month used vehicle loans began at 4.53% and decreased slightly to 4.49%.  Helping with this low-rate environment is the Federal Reserve, which is making it a point to keep rates consumer-friendly for the remainder of the year and even looking through 2022.  Greg McBride, Chief Financial Analyst at Bankrate, says, “amid the recovering economy, the Federal Reserve is still going to keep the interest rates low and new car loan rates are currently the lowest since early 2015.”

The problem for car buyers this year is not the interest rates, but the lack of inventory that we are seeing at our dealerships across the country.  The current global chip shortage has tremendously impacted the supply availability of new cars in North America.  North American inventory at the end of May 2021 was roughly 1.5 million vehicles compared to 2.6 million at the end of May 2020 (National Automobile Dealers Association).  This is projected to drop to as low as 1.3 million vehicles by the end of August.  Thus, creating a further problem with high consumer demand for low inventory.

Challenges with new car inventory are only making prices higher for the consumers, therefore placing an even larger emphasis on ancillary protection than ever before.  The estimated average transaction price for a new light vehicle in the United States reached $41,263 in May 2021; this is a steep 5.4% increase from the same time last year and up 1.2% from April 2021 (Kelley Blue Book).

Historically it has always been true that by buying a used car a borrower can save money and depreciation.  Used vehicle prices typically tend to be much more affordable, but with the lack of new vehicles, we have seen this number drastically increased.  At the end of the second quarter of 2021, the average used vehicle price is up to $25,410, from $20,842.00 (JD Power).

What are the next steps for borrowers? With manufacturing and chip shortages caused by COVID-19 related shutdowns, we will continue to see an impact on both new and used car prices.  Consumers willing to be patient and wait out the challenges may be able to acquire better deals on car purchases.  If you are a consumer who is intent on purchasing a vehicle now, plan to expand your monthly budget and pay about 12.7% over the MSRP or sticker price; this is an increase of 3.8% year over year (JD Power).

As one can see, with a challenging rate environment and auto market, it is imperative that financial institutions are maximizing ancillary protection benefits and providing online auto lending platforms as more consumers are buying vehicles across state lines.  Over 90% of consumers are starting their car buying experience online which is up 55% from only a few years ago. This spring, Insurance Trust launched an online auto buying concierge service to help credit unions answer the call for a member online auto buying experience. As the market changes so do consumer habits and spending.

If you would like any more information on the auto market or Insurance Trust solutions for your credit union, please contact Chief Operating Officer, Paul Michaud. pmichaud@insurancetrust.us | 207-333-7093

Article by Amber Hollo
Accounting Manager, Insurance Trust 

Medical expenses can be extensive and aren’t always easily accessible.  Below are several suggestions to help you use your money wisely and still get the care you need.  Please note, that you may be able to get additional savings through programs with your health insurer or prescription company.

Ways to Save on Medical Expenses:

• Contribute the maximum allowable to your HSA if you have an HSA compatible plan.
  Remember these are pre-tax dollars! More and more items are becoming HSA eligible, including many supplements, OTC medications and supplies.

• Shop lab pricing.
  • I found Ulta Lab to be quite a savings for bloodwork
  • compairmaine.org is a great tool for comparing lab and medical procedure costs in Maine
  • maine.gov/bhr/oeh  provides a list of independent lab locations in Maine. A search returns the provider name, site name, address, and county for each option.

• Apply for Care Credit.
  They offer multiple years of interest-free payments. I’ll give you my personal example – Lasik eye surgery 2 years ago after a discount for having Anthem insurance: $5000.00.  I did not have enough in my HSA to cover the procedure.  So, I opened a Care credit account. I put the entire amount on the card and set up payments for 24 months interest-free. I linked that payment to my HSA.  I was able to pay the whole amount using HSA pre-tax dollars. As a result, I paid just $5000.00.  Say I pay about 20% in taxes. If I had used post-tax dollars from savings/checking, it would really have cost me $6000.00.  If I had used a credit card at 25% interest….it would have cost even more.

• Have a savings account for medical expenses.
  Ideally, this should have enough to cover a yearly out-of-pocket maximum after HSA total contributions. If you are someone who uses all your HSA yearly, having a savings account for the remainder of your yearly out-of-pocket maximum would mean
  no putting medical expenses on your credit card.

• Work with medical practices in establishing payment plans.
  If you call their accounting department, many providers can allow/set up a payment plan with you. It’s not usually something advertised, but many do allow it. I’ve done it myself through Firstlight/Mercy and this allows for interest-free payments, either through personal funds or HSA funds as they become available.

• Submit your reimbursements for wellness screenings.
  If you have voluntary benefits, they often provide an annual benefit for certain wellness screenings.

Obviously, not everyone has the same circumstances, but the point is, put in a little effort and make your dollars, not you, work harder. I hope you find this helpful!

Article by: Elizabeth Ingram 
Vice President of People Strategy, Insurance Trust 

A DCFSA is an account that allows employees to pay for childcare (under age 13) expenses pretax.  As an employee, although they’ll need to provide invoices or proof of expenses to the DCFSA provider, there are tax savings.  Reimbursements cannot be made until after services have been performed, so if the daycare requires payments at the beginning of the week the employee cannot get reimbursed until the end of that week.  However, it’s a nice way to keep some extra funds in the employee’s pocket throughout the year, but that doesn’t mean it makes fiscal sense for the employer.

Generally, DCFSAs are administered by third parties (your broker can help you with this if you don’t have a relationship yet) which means there is a cost associated with this benefit.  An annual cost is typical, and some third parties have other fees as well.  But there are 2 easy ways to determine whether those fees are worth it.

• If you aren’t worried about the expense ($500-$1000/year for a small business) and it makes your employees happy, it may pay for itself in happy, productive employees.
• If you want a hard number comparison, gather your annual costs and take a few minutes to play around in your payroll system.  Payroll systems typically allow you to run what I call dummy paychecks through a paycheck calculator.  Run 2 calculations on each employee enrolled in the DCFSA; one with their current withdrawal and one without a DCFSA withdrawal.  Now, calculate the difference in the employer taxes and multiply it by the number of pay periods per year.  If the savings in employer taxes are more than the cost of your DCFSA administration, it’s saving you money.  Remember this may change from year to year.

Some benefits you offer may benefit the whole team, while others don’t.  But a willingness to consider employee-requested benefits shows you care.