Paying Long-Term Care Premiums From a 401(k): The 2026 Rule
Reading Time: 7 minutesLong-Term Care Premiums From a 401(k): The 2026 Rule Starting in 2026, you can take up to the lesser of $2,500 a year or 10% of your vested balance from a 401(k), 403(b), or IRA to pay long-term care insurance premiums, without the 10% early-withdrawal penalty. The change comes from SECURE 2.0. Regular income tax […]
Is Your Life Insurance Policy a MEC? Signs It’s Drifted
Reading Time: 7 minutesA life insurance policy becomes a modified endowment contract, or MEC, when premiums paid in the first seven years exceed what the federal 7-pay test allows under Internal Revenue Code §7702A. Once a policy is a MEC, it stays one. Loans and withdrawals are taxed as income first and can carry a 10% penalty before […]
Hurricane Deductibles on High-Value Homes: What You Really Pay
Reading Time: 7 minutesOn a high-value home, a hurricane deductible is usually 1% to 5% of the dwelling limit, not a flat dollar amount. On a $10 million home that means $100,000 to $500,000 out of pocket before the policy pays. Add the fact that standard policies exclude flood, and the National Flood Insurance Program caps dwelling coverage […]
Re-Bidding Your PEO: What Multi-State Employers Save
Reading Time: 7 minutesRe-bid your PEO every three to four years, or sooner if your headcount, states, or benefits costs have changed. Most employers never do, and the gap compounds: admin fees, workers comp rates, state unemployment (SUI) rates, and benefit pricing are all negotiable, and incumbents rarely volunteer reductions. NAPEO research puts the return on using a […]
GLP-1 Coverage in 2027: What Self-Funded Employers Should Do
Reading Time: 7 minutesMost self-funded employers should keep GLP-1 coverage for diabetes and move weight-loss coverage to a managed-access model in 2027, rather than drop it entirely or leave it open. The cost pressure is real: among employers that cover GLP-1s for weight loss, the drugs averaged 11.4% of total annual claims in 2026, up from 6.9% in […]
2027 Health Benefits Renewal: An 8% Cost Increase Playbook
Reading Time: 7 minutesEmployers should plan for health benefit costs to rise 8% to 10% in 2027. Marsh projects an 8.2% increase after cost-cutting moves, the steepest since 2003, and employers say the jump would be 11% if they did nothing. Aon puts 2027 growth at 9.5%, pushing average cost above $19,000 per employee. The employers who come […]
NYC Contractor Insurance: Meeting GC Contract Requirements
Reading Time: 7 minutesTo bid New York City work, most subcontractors need general liability with additional insured status for ongoing and completed operations, primary and noncontributory wording, a waiver of subrogation, and an umbrella or excess layer of $5M to $10M or more. General contractors set those terms because New York Labor Law §240, the Scaffold Law, places […]
How Much Excess Liability Does a Real Estate Portfolio Need?
Reading Time: 7 minutesMost mid-size real estate portfolios now carry $25M to $50M of excess liability, and large multifamily or mixed-use owners often go to $100M or more. The reason is verdict size: Zurich reports 135 corporate verdicts above $10M in 2024, plus 49 above $100M. Premises liability is one of the most common sources, and those awards […]
When to Re-Market a Real Estate Property Program
Reading Time: 7 minutesRe-market a real estate property program when it has gone two or more renewals without competition, when your premium rose without better terms, or when the market turns soft. All three are true for many owners right now: CIAB reports commercial property premiums fell 6.3% in Q2 2026, the steepest drop of any line. If […]
Shared Layered Property Programs in a Soft Market
Reading Time: 8 minutesA shared and layered property program splits one large property limit across several carriers, stacked in layers or divided by percentage. In 2026 it is the cheapest it has been in nearly a decade: the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers reports commercial property premiums fell an average of 6.3% in Q2 2026, and 75% […]