Employee Benefits

Trendy Employee Perks

Anne Patterson
Trendy Employee Perks

Each month on Talking Benefits, I join the International Foundation’s three resident benefits nerdthusiasts Julie Stich, Kelli Kolsrud and Justin Held to discuss the top stories in retirement and health care, the latest benefits hot topics, and take a deeper dive into a trending benefits topic. This month, the team tackles emerging trendy employee perks. But first, a quick news update.

 

Social Security/Medicare

Earlier this month, the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees released their annual reports on the financial status of the programs. The disability insurance program will be depleted in 2032, and the OASI Fund will be depleted in 2034. Social Security Administration’s total cost is projected to exceed its total income in 2018 for the first time since 1982 and to remain higher through the projection period.

ACA Update

States are responding to the 2017 tax law that reduced the Affordable Care Act individual mandate penalty to zero which, in effect, neutralized the mandate. Recently, New Jersey and Vermont enacted legislation to restore the individual mandate.

PBGC

A couple of weeks ago, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or PBGC, released its latest financial projections report. According to the report, the program for multiemployer defined benefit pension plans is showing a very high likelihood of becoming insolvent during fiscal year 2025. In contrast, the PBGC program for single employer pensions is in good shape.

Trendy Employee Perks

The podcast team took a deep dive into emerging employee benefit offerings like identity protection plans, student debt loan replacement, unlimited vacation and perks for pet owners, like pawternity leave. Find out what employers are doing, and get some tips if you are considering offering or expanding any of these trendy employee perks.

Don’t miss a single episode! Subscribe to Talking Benefits on iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts for automatic updates as new episodes are released, or watch for new episodes on the International Foundation website.

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Anne Patterson
Social Media and Communications Associate at the International Foundation

 

Fraud Prevention Institute

Anne Patterson

Communications Associate at the International Foundation

Favorite Foundation service/product: The innovative member survey efforts and results from the research team.

Benefits-related topics that interest her most: Health care, nontraditional wellness initiatives, employee benefit communication.

Personal Insight: It’s all about balance with Anne. She loves to run and enjoys a good culinary adventure. She’ll jump at the chance to travel or to spend fun times with family and friends, but she’ll also take time to catch her breath with an occasional Netflix binge or diving into a classic novel.

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