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For the majority of medium to large businesses, group health insurance plans are the biggest non-producing expense. Yet, unlike other expenses, healthcare insurance is meant to mitigate against the threats that can hit closest to the heart of an organization.

After all, people are a business’ biggest asset. Their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing has a direct impact on overall productivity. Group health insurance however can be a minefield. Here are the most common mistakes organizations can make when it comes to group healthcare plans.

• Overlooking Prevention Measures

When it comes to healthcare, prevention is always preferred to treatment. Many serious illnesses including cancer are extremely treatable if they are detected early. Employers should pursue plans that have robust provisions for medical exams. Early detection means fewer insurance claims and ultimately leads to lower premiums for the company.

Team members must be encouraged to keep tabs on their vital signs including weight, cholesterol levels and blood pressure. The older a person becomes, the more frequent and expansive their routine medical checkups become. For instance, employees should start getting a mammogram once they hit a certain age.

• Ignoring Value Added Benefits

Often, when we think about medical benefits, drug plans and doctor visits is what first comes to mind. This narrow view is self-defeating for the business and its employees because nearly all insurance carriers offer these additional services better known as Value Added Benefits. The goal of most such benefits is preventative care as this eventually keeps insurance claims low.

For example, some insurance carriers offer pre-negotiated discounts for eye care including eyeglasses and eye exams. Certain carriers provide reimbursements or discounts for nutritional supplements. Supplements can help prevent disease thus keeping employees healthier.

Employees may enjoy discounts around a diverse array of programs including quit-smoking programs, alcohol rehabilitation programs, stress management programs and weight management programs.

• Not Seeking a Second Opinion

Different business health insurance brokers have varying degrees of ability, experience, professional training and academic qualification. Some agents are solely insurance brokers while others are also licensed as Insurance Consultants.

If you are keen on getting the most suitable group plan for your business, it’s best to go with a specialist that has deep knowledge of your industry because of working with clients in your field. However, even the most qualified individual is not infallible. You can never really be certain that you are getting the best deal unless you get a second or third opinion.

For a group plan, a second opinion could save you thousands if not millions of dollars in premiums per year. A second opinion is necessary even when dealing with a broker you’ve worked with for years. You don’t want to pay a high price for their complacency. Word of caution: make sure you are making an apples-to-apples comparison.

• Failing to See the Bigger Picture

There’s a temptation for business to focus on the most visible figure (i.e. monthly premiums) when making decisions around their group insurance plans. The premiums are not the only variable worth looking at though.

Some of the costs employers should pay attention to include co-pay amounts, deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses, out-of-network reimbursement levels, drug co-pays, drug co-insurance, drug deductibles, drug discounts, wellness programs, disease management programs, network accessibility, disruption analysis, employee/employer contributions, maximum benefits and maximum exposure.

Each of these can make one group plan more attractive and affordable than another.

• Incorrect Group Size Classification

Based on your circumstances including what state the business is located, you can either benefit from classification as a large or small group. Getting classification right can save you thousands of dollars in costs. Generally, small groups are those with 2-50 full-time and eligible employees while large groups have 51 or more.

Note that a full-time eligible employee is different from an employee that may be part of the group plan. A business can have 60 employees with just 45 of them as part of the group plan but will still be classified a large group. So depending on your actual employee population, classification as a small group could be advantageous or disadvantageous.

Consider this: some companies have common ownership and are part of a larger conglomerate. In some cases, it may be prudent to insure such companies separately while in other circumstances, buying a large group-wide plan would be more sensible.

The choice of group health insurance plan is a major decision with far-reaching financial and operational repercussions. Avoiding the above mistakes will ensure your employees maintain an active role and focus on driving the business towards its strategic goals.

I am the only person at my business who uses a computer. I do not store all that much information on my customers. I do not have enough customers for a criminal to even bother hacking my company.  These are thoughts that most small business owners have posed to themselves at some point or another. Unfortunately, these assumptions are dead wrong. Data Breaches are no longer a problem only for big businesses. Most big businesses have caught on to the fact that they need to take data breaches seriously or they will eventually be the next business explaining why their customer’s sensitive information was compromised. Because of this, criminals are now looking in to small businesses as a target to gain access to much larger databases that those businesses are partnered with.

Two of the largest data breaches in history, Target and Home Depot, started just this way. In both of these cases the criminals first hacked in to a small business who had a vendor partnership with the larger business, where access was gained to the much larger businesses network. For Target the partner was an HVAC contractor and for Home Depot it was the company who processed credit and debit card transactions for their self-checkout lanes. In both instances, the small business had been hacked for months without knowing it.

Because of the ever growing role of technology in our lives and in our businesses, data breaches are only going to become more of a risk to small businesses in the future. Fortunately, insurance companies are picking up on this risk and developing insurance policies to protect businesses when a breach occurs within their organization.  Here are the two main types of insurance policies small businesses should purchase in relation to a data breach.

Protect your Business from a Data Breach

Data Breach Insurance

A Data Breach Insurance Policy deals with the first party damages to your business.  These cost may include, but are not limited to: notifying all customers who are impacted by the breach, hiring a forensic team to identify where access was gained to your internal computer systems, and providing credit monitoring services to those impacted for up to one year. In most states, these three costs are required by law for most businesses after a data breach occurs.  Some data breach policies have coverage to hire a public relations firm to repair the tarnished image of your business and setting up a post breach call center for victims.

Cyber Liability Insurance

Cyber Liability Insurance covers the third party liability your business faces to people and businesses who may have been damaged by a data breach within your business. Third parties can include any customers, vendors, employees, and anyone else who was harmed because of the data breach. The costs covered by this policy can include the costs to comply with regulation, fines and penalties implemented by government agencies and losses resulting from the actual identity theft. The laws regarding identity theft are still in their infancy. At this time the dealing with a breach legally has been left up to the states. This can make the amount to repair your business to fluctuate from state to state. According to the Ponemon Institute, a leading independent think tank, the cost of a data breach is $145 per record stolen as of 2015. That cost is more than likely higher today. No matter what the cost to repair your business, it is considerably more than the amount to purchase a cyber liability insurance policy.

Prevent a Data Breach

Defending your business from a hacker does not stop with simply purchasing an insurance program. There are several things you can do to prevent a data breach from occurring in the first place. Here are three things that all small businesses should add to their training programs to prevent a data breach form happening within your business.

Show employees how to protect their passwords

One of the main ways data breaches occurs is because of weak passwords. It is never acceptable to assume your employees know how to create a strong password or that they take this task seriously. During your training practices you need to show employees concrete examples of what is and is not a good password. Here are some examples of good and bad passwords:

Good:        BaSeBaLl_4861-h6+28

Bad:        BenSmith or password

Implement a Clean Desk Policy

Everyone assumes a data breach occurs because someone internet genius is using an encrypted computer to hack in to a computer from a far off country, but it is equally likely for your business to be hacked because someone leaves something out where the wrong person has access to it. This can be something as simple as a laptop computer being stolen at an airport while an employee travels to a conference. It can happen when a commercial cleaning company sees the passwords left on the desk of a vice president at a small bank in Iowa. It has even happened to a baseball team who had a coach write his password on the chalk board in his office and he did an interview for ESPN with the chalkboard in the background. If all of these businesses had implemented a policy that encouraged protecting your workstation, they could have prevented a data breach from occurring.

Shred Everything

Getting rid of all paper documents that have sensitive information is the simplest thing a small business can do to prevent the information of their customers from falling in to the wrong hands. This can apply to a business whether you are a retail location storing shipping information for a customer who ordered a dress from a fashion boutique or a restaurant who has a customer leave their copy of a receipt on the table after dinner.

There might come a time when you find yourself in need of a reverse mortgage loan. If this should happen to you, it is important that you are very selective about the reverse mortgage company that you choose to deal with. Not all of these companies operate with the same level of integrity. This is why you must never simply select the first reverse mortgage company that you find online. You should do much more research than that. This is the only way that you will be able to find a reverse mortgage company that will treat you right. Here are a few of the ways that you can go about looking for an outstanding company to provide you with a reverse mortgage loan.

1. Talk to some of the people you know who have received a reverse mortgage loan in the past.

There is a chance that some of your friends or family members have applied for a reverse mortgage loan at some point. Talk to them and find out if this is the case. With any luck, you will be able to find a few people in your circle of friends who have experience when it comes to applying for a reverse mortgage loan. Ask these people about the experience they went through during the loan application process. How long did it take for them to get approved? What sort of questions did the loan officer ask? Are there any issues that you should be aware of before you apply for a reverse mortgage loan? These people should be very helpful. The info they give you will go a long way towards making your loan process go quickly and smoothly. It is always a good thing if you can learn from the mistakes of others in situations like this. These people will let you know what pitfalls to avoid.

2. Read some blogs that focus on the mortgage lending industry.

There is a lot of very useful info that can be found online. There are many blogs that contain various articles pertaining to reverse mortgage loans. You would be wise to seek out these blogs and read as many of them as you can. There is a chance that you will be able to get a few good references for companies that specialize in reverse mortgage loans like American Advisors Group. You can visit their website to learn more about getting an AAG reverse mortgage loan.

3. You should only deal with a reverse mortgage company that is in good standing with the Better Business Bureau.

Always take the info provided by the BBB very seriously when you are shopping around for a reverse mortgage loan. Check out the BBB website for the most current info on all of the lenders in your area. You will be able to find out many things about each company which will make your decision process much easier. As always, you need to focus on reverse mortgage loan companies that have been given the coveted A+ rating. Lenders that have this rating have proven themselves to be reputable over a long period of time. Therefore, you can feel comfortable doing business with them. You can then factor the info you get from the BBB site into your final decision.

Have you logged in to play any fun online casino games recently? There are a plethora of phone apps and websites that make it possible for you to virtually gamble. Even better news, you’ll save money by not hitting the actual casino.

The actual travel time behind going to the casino is something to take into consideration. If you are traveling a long way, say taking a flight to Vegas, the casino trip can get costly. You have to factor in the price of the airplane ticket, cost of food once you are there, money to gamble, and other miscellaneous costs.

All of that being said, there’s no wonder as to why an online casino may be appealing. You can play wherever you are, and you can still play the same games available at the brick-and-mortar location.

You save money in other ways too!

Many online casinos also offer promo codes and special offers to new and existing members. For instance, some online casinos will offer you a perk if you pay with your credit card. Others may give you cash or virtual money for referring a friend. Whatever the case may be, there are more ways to earn and save money with online casinos.

Check out this Cherry Casino bonus offer. This online casino is just one of many offering great perks for registering a new account. They are currently offering a 100% match of your first deposit (up to £25). Getting your bonus is pretty easy. All you need to do is enter the voucher code after you’ve registered your account. Then you get FREE money!

Before signing up for any online casino, it is important to check the site’s terms and conditions. Each site differs. For instance, the site above only requires £10 to sign up. Other may require a higher dollar amount to establish your online casino account. Some may also require a monthly deposit. So, as always, read the fine print.

Online casinos are still a relatively new thing. Many sites are still establishing rules and various promotions. In the years to come, don’t be surprised if you see them rise in popularity. For many, it will be a great way to make extra cash without having to spend any money on the trip they’d normally take to get there.

Lastly, remember to gamble responsibly. If you think you may have a problem with gambling, reach out for help!

Netflix is undoubtedly the pioneer in online video streaming services and has millions of members worldwide – which might explain why it has recently piqued the interest of online criminals. In a recent cyber attack, Netflix subscribers were targeted by suspicious emails aiming at accessing their banking data.

Scam Email Targets Millions of Netflix Users

If you are not a fan of Stranger Things or House of Cards, then you are among the precious few that have still to catch up with the frenzy of Netflix “binge watching”. In fact, the streaming services provider’s content has been so popular that the company managed to land more than five million more subscribers in the 3rd quarter of 2017, raising the total number of its members to almost 110 million. It is no wonder then that these customers have been targeted by an email sent out in bulk, asking them to re-enter their billing information on the site – including their payment method credentials – in order to continue enjoying the service.

You will find more statistics at Statista

The email alleged a processing error and mirrored the Netflix layout to extreme detail (including copyright dates), in an effort to get unsuspecting subscribers to fall for the trap – and many did. It urged victims to either send back their account data by responding to the email or by logging onto Netflix. Those who clicked on the malicious link contained in the email were taken to a fake Netflix website that looked just like the real thing, down to images of Netflix original shows like The Crown. There they were asked to log in and update their account details, including credit card numbers and security codes, in order to prevent a suspension of their subscription. The emails even contained personalised information in addressing the victims, in order to convince them of their authenticity.

Users Tricked into Visiting Phishing Link and Sharing Financially Sensitive Information

Although many fell victim to the scam, eager to protect their account from being suspended, this was just a textbook case of a phishing attack – tremendously well-designed and executed. Phishing refers to a specific type of social engineering attack where a criminal takes on the role of a trusted party in order to dupe the victim into opening an email, instant message, or text message. These contain a malicious link, which the hacker tricks the recipient into visiting, which can lead to the installation of malware or enable the cybercriminal to access and steal sensitive user data such as login and banking credentials.

The streaming service itself has provided resources on what to do when you receive a suspicious email or text message. Even if an email seems legitimate, users are prompted to always log into Netflix by typing the URL into their browser instead of clicking on links contained in such messages. Customers are also advised to never open any attachments they receive unexpectedly and to forward any messages they suspect are phishing attempts to Netflix, so that the company can investigate.

It seems that similar scam emails were sent out in January 2017, but the latest big wave was last November; yet the hackers seem to be making the rounds every few months, so beware and spread the word to fellow online streaming enthusiasts.

Most of us find it hard to save money nowadays, but the reality is that fewer have even made the attempt. The usual excuse is there is not much left after the monthly expenses have taken their toll on meager earnings. It’s a fair argument. But I’m sure we can learn to be creative with our spending and lifestyle in order to put hard earned cash back into our pockets. Wonga has recently revealed survey findings which show sadly that too many South Africans lack sufficient financial skills necessary to manage their money properly and adequately. Here are some interesting tips to get the ball rolling:

Food

• When you can’t afford to buy a roast but long for a roast dinner, buy a few slices of roast beef from your butcher, make your own gravy and veggies and you have a yummy roast dinner at a fraction of the cost.
• Recycle and revamp your leftovers into a pie. The meat and veg from your Sunday roast can be transformed with a simple lid of pastry and some sauce or gravy. Money saved R60 July 2012
• Skip the supermarket pricey cheat ingredients and readymade sauces and cook your meals from scratch. Money saved R20 July 2012
• Buy a whole chicken instead of breast fillets and you’ll have enough for two meals. Roast your chicken for 1 meal and then use the carcass to make a delicious stock. There’ll be plenty of flakes of meat left to create a soup. Make it a meal by adding potatoes and veggies or noodles for an Asian twist.
• Don’t forget to look at the lower shelves when you’re in the supermarket. Supermarket own-label goods offer the same quality as brands, often for about a third of the cost.
• Look for boxes of meat off cuts. They’re not just as neat as other cuts but are much cheaper. You can usually pick up a lamb box in supermarkets for less.

Electricity

• Save electricity by boiling water and keeping it in a flask instead of re-boiling the kettle several times a day.

Washing

• Washing powder has become so expensive. I put a large cake of Sunlight soap in an empty two-litre ice cream container and slowly pour a kettle of boiling water over it until the container is almost full. I close it and when it’s cooled, the soap turns into a nice thick gel. I use about a cupful of this for one bundle of washing. It works really well and the soap can be reused – just keep filling the container with boiling water.

Clothing

• Tired of your old wardrobe but too broke to shop? Organise a clothes swap party by getting friends to bring and exchange five items they never wear. You’ll rid your cupboard of those guilt-ridden outfits you never wear and score a few new ones for yourself!

Shopping

• Very few people who shop monthly get every item they need, so they still end up going to the cafe. And if your family is undisciplined, you’ll go through those 10 cans of tuna you got on special by the end of the first week. You may find then that weekly shopping is cheaper especially if you plan each week carefully and don’t buy ‘extras’. You’ll also benefit from weekly specials.
• Before buying your weekly groceries sit down with your family and discuss what kind they would like to eat during that week. Many people opt to buy a large variety of food so they can decide on the day what to prepare but with this method, a lot of fresh items go unused and end up in the bin.
• Supermarkets tend to have sales on food items in the middle of the month. Try doing your grocery shopping around the 15th of each month and you’re bound to save.
• If you buy your milk and other groceries between Sunday and Thursday, you’ll get a better deal, because that’s when most of the stores have their weekend specials.
• You can haggle. While retail giants are a no-no for this, if it’s not a big store with barcodes on products, feel free to say ‘I love it, but not the price’. Wait to see what they say but, if the stand-off goes beyond your comfort zone, try an offer of 15% off when buying for cash. This should help ease the deal a bit.
• Sticking one price label over another is actually illegal.
• Make sure you read the labels for expiry dates and contents, just in case you’re allergic to anything.
• Keep your till slips, regardless of the product bought, so that you have proof of when you bought the item, where you bought it and the price charged.
• Did you know that bread baked on the premises of a store is supposed to weigh at least 800g? And that, in most places, the bread weighs only between 680g and 700g.
• If a 1lt sachet of milk doesn’t weigh at least 1kg, then it’s not 1lt of milk.
• Try to buy fresh chicken, rather than frozen, because you’ll pay between R2 and R5 more for the frozen product.
• Try and equate everything to 1kg, and you’ll establish more or less what kind of value for money you’re getting.

The goal remember is to find ways in which you can reduce your overall spend on a monthly basis. See if you can think of other creative ways to hammer down unnecessary spending in your home. For more money saving tips check out the Massive Money Saver blog post.

Understanding the ins and outs of a life insurance policy can be quite frustrating. If this is your first time looking into life insurance, you might not be familiar with many of the terms and phrases used when talking about life insurance. By learning these terms, you’ll be able to choose the right policy for you without any hesitation. One of the first terms you might come across is “rider.”

A rider is an add-on to any standard life insurance policy that lets you exclude or include certain types of coverage. This lets you create coverage that meets your exact needs. For example, if you have a terminal illness and need money to pay for your care, you can choose an accelerated death benefit rider that will give you a payout while you’re still alive. Another term you might hear thrown around is the Declaration Page (or DEC). This is the first page of any contract and will outline your policy number, costs, and coverage limits.

Double indemnity is when your insurer pays double when certain conditions are met, such as dying in an accident. Finally, the insuring agreement is a binding promise from the insurer to pay after your death, and the mode of premium payment is how often you make payments. If these terms are confusing to you, keep in mind that life insurance from HealthIQ is always transparent and easy to understand. Want to test your policy-reading skills? Take the quiz below and see how well you fare.

Life insurance always seems like a problem for an older generation, but then one day you wake up to realize that you’re no longer a 20-something and you should probably think what happens next. Covering yourself against the future is a bit scary the first time around, but that protection brings about a priceless peace of mind. You owe it to your family to make sure they’re taken care of, even though you don’t want to think about all the things that could happen. You can’t hide your head in the sand forever.

Maybe you can’t currently afford a whole life insurance policy. That’s not a problem. Find a term policy that suits your needs for now. Later on, you can convert to whole life without going through all the rigamarole of signing up for new coverage. There are various other ways to lock in a monthly premium that fits your budget. The money you pay now isn’t nearly as important as what comes after you pass. You don’t want to think about death, but it’s inevitable. Deciding what happens afterward is essential. Don’t leave behind any unfinished business.

Health IQ explains the vocabulary of this necessary step into adulthood. You need to name someone as a beneficiary to your worldly possessions, including your finances and your home. Remember that, as with any other type of insurance, you can shop for different policies and compare rates, premiums, and coverage. Always read the fine print so that neither you nor your loved ones are unpleasantly surprised by unexpected clauses.

About Health IQ

Health IQ’s mission is to improve the health of the world by celebrating the health conscious through financial rewards. Health IQ delivers better rates and underwriting, and was recently featured in sites such as CNBC, Venturebeat, and TechCrunch.  and partners with top-rated insurance carriers such as SBLI, Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. and Assurity Life Insurance Company, and reinsurer partner Swiss Re to offer health conscious people between 4 and 33 percent lower rates on life insurance. Founded in 2013 by a team of health conscious entrepreneurs, the company is a licensed life insurance company in all 50 states and has helped tens of thousands of individuals secure a total of $5.3 billion in insurance coverage.

When you’re applying for life insurance, insurers will take into account many different factors about you as an individual before determining your rates. These might include your age, health and medical history, gender, whether or not you smoke, lifestyle, and driving record. However, did you know that your family medical history can also play a role in how much your premium will be? Medical issues in your family are a sign that you could have a greater likelihood of disease or early death. In fact, many insurers raise premiums if you have a family member that died before the age of 65 that was caused by health problems.

There are many different diseases that can be passed down from parent to child. In some cases, diseases can even skip a generation. For example, your grandparent might have had cardiovascular disease, but your parent has a healthy heart. If you develop an arrhythmia sometime in your life, this could be because you have the gene for it from your grandparent. Generally, insurers don’t go all the way back to grandparents when searching for medical history. However, they might look at the health of your siblings to see what possible health problems you might develop.

It’s important to be honest about your family history while applying for insurance quote life insurance from Health IQ. Otherwise, your policy can be cancelled immediately and without notice if it’s revealed that you lied. If you don’t have a family history because you were adopted or never knew your parents, you will probably still be able to get insurance, but you’ll have to confer directly with the company to see its policy.

About Health IQ

Health IQ’s mission is to improve the health of the world by celebrating the health conscious through financial rewards. Health IQ delivers better rates and underwriting, and was recently featured in sites such as CNBC, Venturebeat, and TechCrunch.  and partners with top-rated insurance carriers such as SBLI, Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. and Assurity Life Insurance Company, and reinsurer partner Swiss Re to offer health conscious people between 4 and 33 percent lower rates on life insurance. Founded in 2013 by a team of health conscious entrepreneurs, the company is a licensed life insurance company in all 50 states and has helped tens of thousands of individuals secure a total of $5.3 billion in insurance coverage.