Our Blog

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] As a matter of public policy, our state and federal governments have recognized that it doesn’t do anyone any good to have nursing home or in-home expenses wipe out savings intended for retirement. For example, if a husband’s stroke required extended nursing home care at $10,000 per month, the couple would have to spend most of their life savings to pay those costs before qualifying for Medicaid assistance. That’s where public policy comes in. In simple terms, couples who...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] The Affordable Care Act provision to heavily tax “Cadillac” health insurance plans is scheduled to be implemented in 2018. Employer-sponsored health plans that exceed a federally-determined cost will be taxed 40 percent of the amount above the threshold. The question will be: Who will bear the cost of the “luxury” tax? Employers with multi-year contracts and generous benefits have to start planning now. For example, a three year “Cadillac” plan negotiated in 2015 with an effective date of July...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Though the amazing little aspirin has long been touted as a good preventive measure against heart disease, new information suggests it may have a measurable impact on reducing the risk of certain cancers. With approximately 40 thousand tons of aspirin consumed annually around the globe, what should you know about these developments and what questions should you ask your physician? Let’s start with the nature of aspirin. According to the Aspirin Foundation, “The active ingredient in aspirin, acetyl salicylic...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] “Give me a one–handed economist,” demanded a Harry Truman. “All my economists say, ‘on the one hand…on the other.’” The poor president wanted clarity instead of ambiguity as he assumed a post-war economy. Today, with volatile energy prices, unfavorable demographics and income disparity, people in Maine and New Hampshire also are looking for clarity. So what are the economists saying? The good news according to most every economist looking at the region is that we’re on an upward trajectory...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] The price of liability claims shows up in the cost of the products and services we buy as well as directly through insurance premiums. It doesn’t mean that premiums collected today will be paid out anytime soon. On the contrary, liability insurance is known as a long-tail business – claims and payments that may be made years after the premiums have been collected. What are the trends and emerging areas of liability claims and should we be concerned? On...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] When I transferred high schools, one of the first kids I met introduced himself and said “I want to be a cop.” His interest never waned and sure enough, he became a police officer and has served for more than 35 years. Some kids know what they want to do but I have never heard one say “I want to go into insurance!” They don’t know what they’re missing. In fact, Maine had 13,418 jobs in the insurance...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Think about this. If accidents caused by distracted driving are making travel somewhat more hazardous, doesn’t it make sense to buy safer cars to protect yourself from potential perpetrators? Who hasn’t seen the driver ahead of you or one coming the other way swerve across the center line or toward the shoulder while texting or messing with onboard electronics? So to protect yourself, what new cars get the best safety ratings for 2015? Before we jump to the safety...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] When the sleigh touches down on your roof and the jolly old soul alights on your property, is it the joy of the holidays that spring to mind or your liability and family safety? Seriously, there are eight animals parked on your roof and a man is trying to enter your house down a chimney from a point on a pitched roof that likely is covered in snow and ice. Worse yet, he has no fall protection! What...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] “Shoulda, woulda, coulda” are the laments of so many who don’t have a vision or conversation about their financial future. At some point we die and leave behind a spouse or heirs. Evermore, a surviving spouse can expect to live anywhere from a few years to decades after being widowed. So, what are five things you need to do now so “shoulda” is out of the equation? Any one of these five subjects, by the way, are not gender...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] The recent tragedies of lost lives in Portland and destroyed property in Biddeford due to fires have landlords and tenants talking about safety. The Southern Maine Landlord Association (SMLA) recently met in Portland to take a deeper dive into both building code standards required of landlords as well as tenants’ vigilance about safety in their rented apartments. In Northern New England, about half of all multi-unit dwellings are 50 years or older and require safety updates. So, what...