The Connection Between Effort and Reward Must Exist...For Work to be Satisfying - M. Gladwell

Have you ever wondered what it is like to work at an ESOP?  I have worked for two (2) ESOP’s in my working lifetime.  Only twenty percent (20%) of large corporations are ESOP.  ESOP stands for Employee Stock Ownership Plan.  The employees actually own the corporation where they work.

How does that happen?  With DGK, when the last principal owner was retiring, the employees purchased the stock in the corporation so the business of insuring our neighbors could continue.  This plan allows for retirement without the need to sell the agency or shut its doors.  An experienced financial advisor was first place to start.  There are many requirements and filings that must be met: stock price of the corporation must be established, rules for creating and administering stock must be adhered.  There may be a limit placed on the percentage of stock that one employee can own.  Specific compliance unique to ESOPS's  becomes going.

ESOP stocks are not for sale on the open stock market.  The stock is confined to current employees.  Generally, after a certain length of employment, employees begin to earn stock.  The company can be a partial or full employee ownership program.  DGK is a full one hundred percent (100%) employee owned corporation. 

Establishing this type of plan offers the corporation many benefits.  Creating an employee stock ownership plan is a way for the company to raise capital.  ESOP offers a plan to finance a business in a fluctuating economy or to continue the business when an owner retires and take care of the employees.  Sears & Roebuck in the late 1800’s established a stock option plan for their employees.  Southwestern Airlines has an employee stock option plan.  It is also an incentive to recruit employees.   As employees begin to take an active part in the future of the company, the company grows and succeeds. 

Insurance is serious. We deal with life, death and financial well-being of our clients.  It can be stressful but knowing my work matters provides me with job satisfaction.  Working at an ESOP, I know that my efforts are valued.  I prefer working at an ESOP.

For more information about ESOP please see http://www.esopassociation.org

and http://www.nceo.org

Promises, Promises, Promises

“Promise me you will not put me in a nursing home.”  My mother said those words to me because she knew I would not break my promise.  I rarely make promises for two reasons.  One, I do not break my promises and two, they are not always easy to keep.  My mother was a RN with a Bachelor Degree in Nursing from Hunter College, NYC.  She did not like nursing homes and did not want to live in one.

According to the CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are appropriately 16, 000 nursing homes in the US.  The average stay in a nursing care facility is 835 days.  Some people like my mother do not want to go to a nursing home while others do not want their family to care for them and nursing homes become their option.   

My mother diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease came to live with me in 1998.  The disease at first showed itself through little slips in memory and personality changes.  Lost keys were a common occurrence.  My sweet even-tempered mother began having fits of aggression.  One minute I was her dedicated selfless daughter and the next she was so angry with me she wanted to “punch me in the face.”  Even at the onset of the disease, caring for my mother was not always easy.

As an employee in the insurance industry, I know about long-term care insurance.  The number of people requiring long-term care increases as the boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) age.  Long-term insurance covers the cost of care that is needed when a person can no longer care for themselves and are unable to do two or more of the six activities of daily living (ADL).  These six recognized activities of daily living are bathing, eating, dressing, continence, toileting and transferring.  Long-term care insurance will pay for care at home, in assisted living facility, a nursing home, adult daycare or Hospice up to the benefit amount that you choose.  It is not just nursing home insurance.

My mother did not have insurance for her care.  She was a veteran and served during a war so my mother was approved for in home care through the VA Aid & Attendance Benefits.  The care was a help but it did not provide 24/7 care; it was 8/5.  My husband and I provided the remainder of my mother’s around the clock care.  The monies to refit our home with locks, grab bars, alarms, handicapped deck and other items became a part of our household budget. Caring for my mother, working full time and concern for finances was exhausting. 

Long-term care insurance has many nuances to the program.  There are tax implications and a window of opportunity when one is healthy and can purchase the insurance.  The coverage also has different levels of care benefits.  Examination of benefit levels and finances requires experienced counsel.  It is also a very personal choice and many are afraid to confront the subject.  What if I need long-term care, how am I going to pay for it and where will I go? 

My mother cared for her mother who was afflicted with Parkinson’s disease; I cared for my mother until her death on November 18, 2008.  My mother enjoyed caring for her mother; she was an exceptional person.  I am not a nurse but learned more nursing than I ever imagined.  The care of my mother still overshadows most of my memories of her and I wish it did not.  I want to remember my mother as the woman who would scream with joy on amusement rides only to learn she was really screaming in pure terror of those rides.  She never let on.  I wish I did not remember her haunting brown eyes as she tried to recall who I was and why I was taking care of her.  I will not have my children caring for me. 

I learned a lot from my experience.  My mother at age 85 with Alzheimer's was still teaching me.  I am willing to ask the frightening questions.  I am willing to look at the possibility that I may need care.  I have a plan.  Do you?

Please contact our office for information on long-term care insurance 570-945-3031.

For information about Alzheimer’s Disease please click - http://alz.org/

For information about PA Nursing homes please click -  http://app2.health.state.pa.us/commonpoc/Content/PublicWeb/NHInformation2.asp

For information about VA Benefits please click - http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA/

I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” ~ Groucho Marx

I am a happy person often accused of wearing rose-colored glasses.  I blame it on my mother.  She was truly a happy woman.  That is not to say we have not known deep sadness in our lives.  I want to clarify the realities of hunger, the state of our economy and the welfare of all humanity are not discounted.  Yet, when I think of my mother and when people think of me the image of a happy person comes to mind. 

Why am I telling you about my “natural” disposition?  The answer involves an article my CEO, Kathleen Glattly, emailed to DGK’s employees.  Since I received it from my CEO at work, I assumed it was about work performance.  You know the articles about emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman (Leadership – The Power of Emotional Intelligence).  I put it to the side to read at the end of the day.  WOW!  Was I surprised!?  It was an article from the Harvard Business Review entitled Positive Intelligence by Shawn Achor (see below for the link).  Could my positive, up-beat personality make the grade?

I try to be well rounded.  I listen to medical advice both Eastern and Western.  As a result, I exercise, try to eat correctly, I meditate, volunteer in my neighborhood, give to charity, look for humor and so on.  You would think someone would give me a medal.  Believe me, I am no saint.  I have been known to scarf a bag of potato chips, the bag that says two (2) servings, in under five (5) minutes, sit for hours upside down on the sofa, unwashed and in jammies reading a book ignoring my husband and dog, which is not easily accomplished.  Oh, my list of evils is endless.  I believe the good and the bad is what makes me balanced, the mythological Libra.

The article focuses on one’s happiness and the ripple effect happiness has in one’s life.   “Most people believe that success precedes happiness.  Once I get the promotion I want I will be happy … happiness that results from success is fleeting.  Happiness works the other way around: People who cultivate a positive mind-set perform better in the face of challenge.” 

When I was 10 years old, my mother over heard me saying, “I always get what I want.”  She was appalled!  She was also furious and gave me a long uninterrupted loud speech about bragging, being spoiled and what kind of arrogant insensitive daughter was she raising.  I remember the incident well.  Once she winded down I got a chance though a very small window to explain; I get what I want because if I do not get what I want, I change what I want.  She understood it was my way of dealing with disappointment and still satisfied with what I got, a positive outlook spun on the wheels of any negative situation. 

Corporations have capitalized on the happiness factor.   The article sets forth a plan to assist in “the pursuit of happiness” as put forth in the US Declaration of Independence as one of the unalienable rights.  The plan, which began as an experiment at KPMG, is a choice of one out of five (5) activities to perform on a daily basis.  I do all five (5) as my challenge to see if I really am a positive happy person.  It did not say I had to be uncompetitive to be happy.  It is a challenge.  The experiment at KPMG in NY was successful.  Completing one quick exercise (of their choice) a day for three weeks, the group had higher scores on life satisfaction and optimism which resulted in higher productivity to the company, a win-win for all. 

The magic is the activities help you examine your day and focus your attention to the positive portions either in reflection or in action.  I could be suspicious of the corporation’s manipulation of my happiness for their pure greed.  I choose to focus on the great article I received at work which is intended to help me become a happier person.  What will you choose on your road to happiness?

http://hbr.org/2012/01/positive-intelligence/ar/1?cm_sp=most_widget-_-hbr_articles-_-Positive%20Intelligence