Regardless of your expertise on the water, proper boating safety should be followed every time you hit the water. Be sure to review these boating safety tips with any passengers on board to ensure everyone’s wellbeing as well as reduce any risk to your insurance policy.

Compare a colonoscopy procedure from one provider to another and you probably won’t find much difference. Compare the costs between several different providers and the differences will surprise you!

According to a June 1, 2013 article in the NY Times, a comparison of colonoscopy charges revealed that the costs varied

"You have a brand whether you like it or not", said my friend Larry Linne, co-author, along with Patrick Sitkins, of the new book Brand Damage: It's Personal.

"We live in a world today where you can't hide", he continued. "The way people think of you is being broadcast everyday. You can manage it or just let it happen."

Patrick and Larry have been working together for a number of years teaching classes and running seminars on branding. Larry will tell you they share a passion for this subject. "We've seen too many people at the extremes. Some do it really well and create an environment where people want to help them. The other extreme is some of the really stupid things people do to destroy their brand. The world doesn't think much of them and they usually don't even know it."

So what is a personal brand? "Simply put, it's what people think of you", said Patrick. Said another way, it's really just someone's "gut feel" about you.

Since most homeowners policies provide minimal jewelry coverage if your item is stolen, misplaced, or lost, and some policies even exclude coverage for misplacing or losing an item entirely, it is important to list valuable jewelry items separately on your homeowners policy or in some cases on a separate policy.  The most important reason to have jewelry appraised is to determine an adequate replacement value in the event of a loss. Over the years, the value of jewelry and gemstones have fluctuated greatly.

When we created our GESOP (Gibson Employee Stock Ownership Plan) at the end of 2010, we had several goals in mind:

“If you set limits you will only get there. You have to be unconditional.” says my friend Don Wood, Founder of 80/20 Inc.

Besides isn’t it a little arrogant to think you can’t do something? As author A.L. Kennedy writes, “Have more humility. Remember you don't know the limits of your own abilities.”

So what does it mean to be unconditional? I decided to consult a couple of online dictionaries for unconditional and found “without limitations” and “free from constraint”. Glancing at a list of synonyms, I noted words such as: all-out, complete, total and unqualified. As I thought about it, to be unconditional is really 

Stop and reflect on that for a minute. What should we be applying that to? Worse yet, what areas of your life and career are you not applying it to? Imagine a world of being doubtful, qualified, and restricted. Unfortunately, I suspect this will sound all too familiar.to have no limits.

The Indiana General Assembly passed and Gov. Pence has signed into law HB 1320, which introduces a fee schedule into Indiana’s workers’ compensation statute. Over 25 states have enacted fee schedule legislation since the mid-1990s to impose a limit or cap on medical reimbursement. Insurers generally favor fee schedules while medical providers generally oppose it. Indiana will now have a schedule set at 200% of Medicare reimbursement levels.

Prior to this passing, Indiana had relied on a “usual and customary” method, which had many pitfalls. Both the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) and theNational Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) have published studies showing how, overall, “usual and customary” states had higher comparable medical costs and higher rates of increases in cost.

The Indiana General Assembly passed and Gov. Pence has signed into law HB 1320, which introduces a fee schedule into Indiana’s workers’ compensation statute. Over 25 states have enacted fee schedule legislation since the mid-1990s to impose a limit or cap on medical reimbursement. Insurers generally favor fee schedules while medical providers generally oppose it. Indiana will now have a schedule set at 200% of Medicare reimbursement levels.

Prior to this passing, Indiana had relied on a “usual and customary” method, which had many pitfalls. Both the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) and theNational Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) have published studies showing how, overall, “usual and customary” states had higher comparable medical costs and higher rates of increases in cost.

1. Insurer investment returns

The financial crisis of 2008 caused insurers to write down their investment portfolios and reallocate seeking higher returns. However, with a prevalence of low-yielding investments, attractive returns were not possible. Furthermore, credit quality impaired insurer’s massive corporate bonds holdings. For insurers with an international footprint there was also the impact of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and the drain on surplus caused by 2011 delivering one of the worst worldwide catastrophic loss years on record. Interest rates on 10-year treasury notes have been following a downward trend for over a decade and are now at all-time record lows. Since roughly 80% of the property-casualty industry’s bond/cash investments are in 10-year or shorter durations, most insurer portfolios will have low-yielding bonds for years to come. In addition, the recession reduced demand for workers’ comp (demand = payroll).

1. Insurer investment returns

The financial crisis of 2008 caused insurers to write down their investment portfolios and reallocate seeking higher returns. However, with a prevalence of low-yielding investments, attractive returns were not possible. Furthermore, credit quality impaired insurer’s massive corporate bonds holdings. For insurers with an international footprint there was also the impact of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and the drain on surplus caused by 2011 delivering one of the worst worldwide catastrophic loss years on record. Interest rates on 10-year treasury notes have been following a downward trend for over a decade and are now at all-time record lows. Since roughly 80% of the property-casualty industry’s bond/cash investments are in 10-year or shorter durations, most insurer portfolios will have low-yielding bonds for years to come. In addition, the recession reduced demand for workers’ comp (demand = payroll).